Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-course-of-the-year-3-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-4/57/b/solution
Past exam of the chemistry course of the year 3 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2022 Paper 4 57 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
Patterson maps give interatomic displacement vectors rather than absolute positions. The three strong half-cell vectors are consistent with a face-centered four-point Se substructure. One permissible coordinate set isEach nonzero vector occurs four times among the twelve ordered Se-Se pairs, explaining equal weights. These positions form a valid four-site orbit of the specified space group in a suitable origin convention.
A common translation of all four sites is invisible to a Patterson map; absolute coordinates are therefore not uniquely fixed by these three peaks. Subsequent phases are stated in the origin convention above. The remaining atoms need not have face-centered translational symmetry merely because the dominant Se substructure does.
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