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Q. How many number of atoms are there in a cube based unit cell having one atom on each comer and two atoms on each body diagonal of cube?

Uttarkhand PMTUttarkhand PMT 2007

Solution:

There are $8$ corners in a cube and hence $8$ atoms are placed at the corner of the cube. But these 8 atoms are shared equally by $8$ separate units.
Therefore, Contribution of atoms placed at the corner $=8 \times \frac{1}{8}=1$
There are $4$ body diagonals in a cube and the number of atoms at each body diagonal are $2$ .
Since these atoms are within the unit cell and hence are not shared by other units, therefore,
Contribution of atoms placed at the body diagonal $=2 \times 4=8$
Hence, total atoms in the cube based unit cell $=8+1=9$