Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-materials-science-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-1/1/a/i/solution
Past exam of the materials science course of the University of Cambridge 2016 Paper 1 1 a i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
This is a C-centered orthorhombic lattice. The translation takes each A molecule to another A molecule and each B molecule to another B molecule. Thus the conventional cell has two lattice points.
A two-molecule crystal motif can be chosen as A at and B at . Attaching that same motif to both C-centered lattice points produces all four molecules, hence eight iodine atoms per conventional cell.
The centers alone appear face-centered, but exchanges A and B orientations. It is not a translation symmetry of the oriented molecular solid. An F-centered assignment would discard essential motif information.
New to topics? Read the docs here!