Common structures of metals

 

Most of the elements in the periodic table are metals.

Most metals have structures based on close packed structure types.

 

The three most common are:

Hexagonal Close Packed (hcp) (ABAB…layer sequence) (e.g. Zn)

zn3b.JPG (8103 bytes)            zn1.jpg (26534 bytes)

Unit cell of Zn                                          Full 3D structure of Zn

 

zn2.jpg (7126 bytes)

HCP can be represented as a layer structure

 

Other Hexagonal Close Packed structures include Mg, Ti, Co, Cd and Be

 

Cubic Closed Packed (ccp) Sometimes called face centred cubic (fcc) (ABCABC…layer sequence)

(e.g. Cu)

cu1.jpg (10789 bytes)    cu2.jpg (6293 bytes)

Full 3D structure of Cu                                                  Unit cell of Cu

Other cubic closed packed structures include Ag, Al, Au, Ca, Ni, Pb and Pt

 

Body Centred Cubic (bcc) (e.g. Na)

 

cscl.jpg (5649 bytes)

Unit cell of Na

Other Body Centered Cubic structures include Ba, Cr, Fe and the alkali metals