Question

(i) What is meant by the term 'coordination number'?

(ii) What is the coordination number of atoms:

(a) in a cubic close-packed structure?

(b) in a body-centred cubic structure?

Answer 1

(i) The number of nearest neighbours of any constituent particle present in the crystal lattice is called its coordination number.

(ii) The coordination number of atoms

(a) in a cubic close-packed structure is 12, and

(b) in a body-centred cubic structure is 8