Symmetry Elements of a Cube

Symmetry elements of a cube

Tetrads (3)
Triads (4)
Diads (6)
Mirrors (9)
Inversion centre (1)
Total is 23
Bravais Lattices and Crystal Systems
The restriction on rotational symmetry imposed by translation and our flexibility to
choose equal or unequal values for a and b and angles between them, there are
only four primitive geometrical possibilities in selecting a unit cell in a 2-d lattice
These define four crystal systems in 2-d:
oblique, rectangle, square, hexagon (60° rhombus)
One can also add a centring scheme to the faces of the above shapes, which
turns out that there is only one additional possibility, i.e. a centred rectangle
For other shapes one can always redraw the resulting pattern using a primitive
unit cell, without losing any symmetry
This makes a total of five different plane-filling patterns
These are known as Bravais lattices (Auguste Bravais, 1811-1863)

Oblique Rectangular Centred Rectangular Rhombus

Hexagonal

Square
Five possible crystal lattices in 2-d
Why there is no tetragonal F?

Equivalence between face-centred and body-centred tetragonal structures

Examples
Cubic
Many metals (Al, Cu, Fe, W, Pb,…), diamond, NaCl, CsCl, LiF, Si, GaAs
Tetragonal
In, Sn, Barium titanate, TiO2
Orthorhombic
Ga, S, U, Iodine, Cementite (Fe3C), Sodium sulphate