Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/paper-2/a9/a/solution

In a face-centered cubic lattice, nearest neighbours touch along a face diagonal. Four radii span that diagonal, so and
Thus
The primitive vectors enclose volume , containing one atom; the conventional cubic cell of volume contains four. Keeping these cell conventions distinct avoids a factor-of-four error in the electron density.

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