The highest coordination number for spherical packing is found in the
A)body-centered cubic structure.
B)simple cubic structure.
C)body-centered cubic and face-centered cubic.
D)cubic closest-packing and hexagonal closest packing.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Cubic closest-packing and hexagonal closest packing have the highest coordination number for spherical packing, which is 12. In these structures, each sphere has 12 nearest neighbors arranged in a close-packed arrangement. The body-centered cubic and face-centered cubic structures have coordination numbers of 8 and 12, respectively. The simple cubic structure has a coordination number of 6. Therefore, the best choice is D.

The Highest Coordination Number for Spherical Packing Is Found in the