kiderakennetta

Crystal structure, or kiderakennetta in Finnish, refers to the ordered, repeating arrangement of atoms in a crystalline solid. This arrangement determines many physical properties, such as density, hardness, electronic structure, and optical behavior. The key concepts are the lattice, the basis, the unit cell, and the space group. The lattice is an infinite array of points; the basis is the set of atoms attached to each lattice point; the unit cell is the smallest repeating block that generates the lattice by translations; the space group captures the symmetry operations that map the structure onto itself.

There are 14 Bravais lattices, which classify possible lattice geometries. Real structures often differ by the arrangement of atoms in the basis, leading to common crystal structures such as simple cubic, body-centered cubic, face-centered cubic, hexagonal close-packed, as well as more complex arrangements found in minerals and compounds (for example, rock salt, zinc blende, diamond, perovskite). Crystal structure strongly influences properties including density, hardness, electronic band structure, thermal conductivity, and defect behavior. Polymorphism refers to different crystal structures that a material can adopt under varying conditions, such as temperature or pressure. Defects—vacancies, interstitials, and dislocations—also alter properties.

Determination and analysis are typically done via X-ray crystallography, neutron diffraction, or electron diffraction, often complemented by computational modeling. Understanding kiderakennetta is essential in materials science, geology, and solid-state chemistry.