MATERIALS SCIENCE

Part of & AALearner’s Guide

Learner’s Guide
ENGINEERING
AN INTRODUCTORY E-BOOK
Anandh Subramaniam & Kantesh Balani
Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur- 208016
Email: anandh@iitk.ac.in, URL: home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh
http://home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh/E-book.htm
 The
Therotations
rotationscompatible
compatiblewith
withtranslational
translationalsymmetry
symmetryare
are(1,
(1,2,2,3,3,4,4,6)
6)
 In general any n-fold rotational axis is possible, where ‘n’ divides 360 without leaving a
reminder. E.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12- fold axes are possible.
 Apart from 1 (trivial), 2, 3, 4, 6- fold axes, other rotations are not compatible with
translational symmetry.
 We will see next “why” this is so. First, let us observe two rows of lattice points in a
hexagonal lattice. Note that after the action of the 6-fold axes (twice over) the spacing
between the lattice points in the next row is 2t. (AA’, BB’).

 Some of the disallowed crystallographic symmetries like 5, 8, 12- fold are seen in
QUASICRYSTALS.
 In quasicrystals translational periodicity is absent, but they have inflationary symmetry.
 Consider two rows of lattice points: R1 and R2
 A is taken to A’ by the lattice translation vector t (modulus is t)
 Point A is taken to B’ by a rotation axis and similarly A’ is taken to B by a rotation axis
 If B and B’ have to qualify as lattice points then BB’ must be an integral multiple of AA’, i.e. b = mt
(where m is an integer)

b  mt b  t  2t.Cos

mt  t  2t.Cos

m  1  2Cos

2Cos  1  m

m & (1  m) are integers

Say (1  m) is M
M
Cos  Thus Cos can take only half-integral values.
2
The permitted values are in the table in the next slide.
 M Cos  n = 2/
3 3/2 - -
2 1  2
1 1/2 2/3 3
0 0 /2 4
1 ½ /3 6
2 1 0 1
3 3/2 - -

 When we talk about n-fold, we also include the roto-reflection and roto-inversion axes.

Hence, if n is allowed then n and n are also allowed .

 Is 5-fold symmetry not allowed in crystals because of the fact that pentagons
Funda Check cannot tile the plane. (Noting that pentagons have 5-fold symmetry).

 Yes, the following two statements are true:

 ‘A’ regular pentagon cannot tile the plane ‘monohedrally’
 5-fold symmetry is not allowed in crystals.
 This does not imply that this is the reason (for the fact) that crystals cannot have 5-fold
symmetry.
 E.g. A regular tetrahedron cannot tile space monohedrally; however, tetrahedral symmetry
(23) is observed in crystals!
 A interesting aside:
though regular pentagons cannot tile the plane, a non-regular version of the same can tile
the plane (found in Egypt- as created by ancient artisans). The number of such non-regular
pentagons which can tile the plane is ‘not known’ (i.e. the number of ways in which a non-
regular pentagon can tile the plane is not known).