Chapter 11: Problem 98

Classify the unit cell of molecular iodine.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The exact classification of the iodine molecule's unit cell can only be determined by specific characteristics of the molecule that was not given in the question; suppose it's a simple cubic structure, where each iodine molecule is found at the corners of the cube.

Step by step solution

Identify the Characteristics of the Molecule

Any characteristic of the iodine molecule can help in classifying the unit cell. The most important characteristics to consider may be the appearance, shape, or very specific physical properties, which might include density or the angles between facets of the crystal.

Match the characteristics with unit cell types

Each type of unit cell has unique characteristics. Once the characteristics of the iodine molecule are known, they can be matched with the characteristics of different unit cell types in order to determine the most likely classification. For example, the face-centered cubic cell has atoms at each corner and the center of each face, while the body-centered cubic unit cell has one atom in the center in addition to the ones at the corners. Determining the positions of iodine atoms in the crystal structure can lead us to the type of its unit cell.