Crystal Lattice

Réseau (Fr). Gitter (Ge). Reticolo (It). Red (Sp). Кристаллическая решётка (Ru).

In order to describe the structure of a crystal, it is only necessary to know the simplest repeating “motif” and the length and directions of the three vectors which together describe its repetition space. The motif can be a molecule or the building block of a network structure. Normally, it consists of several such units, which may be converted into one another by symmetry operations. The three vectors a, b, c, which describe the translations of the motif in space are called the basis vectors. By their operation one upon another, a lattice is generated. Any point in such a lattice may be described by a vector r,

r = n1a + n2b + n3c

where n1, n2 and n3 are integers.[1]

By reading our paper on alpha-Glycine, you can get interesting insights in regards to changes in the crystal lattices visualization patterns from traditional X-ray crystallography to electron diffraction.

References:

1 Werner Massa – Crystal structure determination, 3rd Ed., Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2016, 14-15.