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Within a cubic unit cell, sketch the following directions?

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Final answer:

To sketch directions within a cubic unit cell, it's important to understand the arrangement of atoms in simple cubic, body-centered cubic, and face-centered cubic structures. Corner atoms contribute to just one atom per unit cell in a simple cubic lattice. In a face-centered cubic cell, atoms are located at each face's center and corners, composing four atoms per unit cell.

Step-by-step explanation:

To sketch the directions within a cubic unit cell, one must understand the structure and composition of such cells in a crystal lattice. The simplest is the simple cubic lattice, where atoms are located at the cube's corners, and the entire structure repeats in all directions. Each corner atom is shared among eight unit cells, contributing to just an eighth of an atom per unit cell, resulting in just one atom per unit cell in total.

Beyond simple cubic, there are body-centered cubic and face-centered cubic structures. In a body-centered cubic cell, there is an additional atom at the center of the cube, whereas, in a face-centered cubic cell, there are atoms at the center of each face, leading to four atoms per unit cell. Sketching the directions within these cells would involve marking the atoms' positions according to these criteria.

For instance, when representing the face-centered cubic (FCC) unit cell, you would place dots at the eight corners and in the center of each face. Then, connecting these dots according to the specific directions desired. If you were sketching along a face diagonal, for example, you would draw a line connecting the center of one face to the opposite corner. This representation would require the knowledge that atoms at the corners touch the atoms in the centers of the faces along the face diagonals of the cube.

Drawing these directions requires a spatial understanding of the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in the cubic crystal system, which includes simple, body-centered, and face-centered cubic structures.

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