Aluminium crystallizes in an FCC structure. Atomic radius of the metal is 125 pm. What is the length of the side of the unit cell of the metal?
Solution:
For cubic close packed structure, let a be the edge of the cube and r be the radius of the atom. Given that r = 125 pm. a = 2√2r Putting the value of r we get, 2 × 1.414 × 125 pm = 353.5 pm (approximately)