Chemistry · Ch 6 — Solid State
Classification of Solids
Classification of Solids
Every solid can be sorted into one of two broad classes based purely on how its constituent particles are arranged:
- Crystalline solids -- the constituents (atoms, ions or molecules) have a long-range, orderly arrangement, repeating regularly throughout the solid.
- Amorphous solids -- the constituents are arranged randomly, with no long-range order (the word comes from the Greek 'amorphous', meaning 'no form'). Glass and rubber are the standard examples.
Crystalline solids are, in turn, classified by the nature of their constituent particles and the force holding them together, into five families: ionic crystals (e.g. NaCl, KCl), covalent crystals (e.g. diamond, SiO2), molecular crystals (e.g. naphthalene, anthracene, glucose), metallic crystals (all metallic elements: Na, Mg, Cu, Au, Ag, etc.) and atomic solids (e.g. the frozen elements of Group 18, the noble gases). Each of these five families is developed in full in Section 6.3. …
What this figure shows. A flowchart headed 'Classification of solids' branching into two boxes: 'Crystalline solids' and 'Amorphous solids (Ex: Glass, rubber etc)'. Five arrows lead out from under the Crystalline-solids box, each pointing to one crystalline sub-type with its textbook examples: 'Ionic crystals Ex: NaCl, KCl'; 'Covalent crystals Ex: Diamond, SiO2'; 'Molecular crystals Ex: naphthalene, anthracene, glucose'; 'Metallic crystals Ex: All metallic elements (Na, Mg, Cu, Au, Ag etc..)'; and 'Atomic solid …
What this figure shows. A photograph of two clear, glassy quartz crystal chunks with flat, symmetrically arranged natural faces, resting on a dark blue cloth background -- illustrating the textbook's point that the word 'crystal' (from the Greek 'krystallos', clear ice) was first applied to exactly this kind of transparent quartz stone before being extended to any solid bounded by many flat, symmetrically …