Solids

and
Its Classification

Mehnaz Sharmin
Department of Physics
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
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 Matter
Subdivisions-
in terms of Fluidity- ● Fluids ● Solids
in terms of Condensation- ● Gaseous ● Condensed – Solids and Fluids

3 Stable States of Matter–

● Solid ● Liquid ● Gas

 Solid only has definite structure.

 Solid is known as the super cooled state of matter.

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 Classification of Solid
Solid

Crystalline Non-Crystalline/ Amorphous

(Glass, plastic, resin, pitch, sugar candy, etc.)

Single Crystal Polycrystalline/ Semi crystalline

(Rock salt, calcite, quartz, etc.) (Rock, sand, metals, salts, etc.)

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 Crystalline Solid
A solid in general is said to be a crystal if the constituent particles
(atoms, ions or molecules) are arranged in a three dimensional
periodic manner or simply it has a reticular or granular structure.

Properties
• In crystalline solids the atoms are stacked in a regular manner,
forming a repetitive 3D pattern.

• It has long-range order and sharp melting point.

• When the crystal grows under constant environment, the

external geometrical shape of the crystal often remains
unchanged as a consequence of the internal arrangement of
constituent particles.

• Crystals are bounded by optically plane faces , sharp- straight

edges and interfacial angles.
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 For a crystal we can write the relation,
f+c=e+2
f = No. of faces, c = No. of corners, e = No. of edges

For a cube
f=6
c=8
e =12

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 Steno’s law
“The angles between two corresponding faces on the
crystals of any solid chemical or mineral species are
constant and are characteristic of the species; this angle
is measured between lines drawn perpendicular to each
face.”
The law, also called the law of constancy of interfacial
angles, holds for any two crystals, regardless of size,
locality of occurrence, or whether they are natural or
man-made.

Fig: Constancy of interfacial angles

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 Single crystal
When the periodicity in crystal pattern extends throughout a certain
piece of materials, it is said to be a single crystal or unit crystal or
mono-crystal.

Properties
• Arranged in reticular pattern (no grain
boundaries).
• Exhibit anisotropy of physical properties.
• Have very fewer defects.
• Have the consistency of chemical
composition.
• No optical absorption/ scattering effects
Figure 1: Single crystals of / no trapping of conduction electrons.
various shapes and materials. • They have sharp melting points.

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Anisotropy in crystal is due to different arrangement
of particles along different directions

B
D

C A

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 Polycrystalline solids
When the periodicity in the crystal structure is interrupted at so
called grain boundaries, the crystal is said to be polycrystalline.
Properties
• Granular in arrangements.
• Grains are grown in the form of
interlocking masses separated by
grain boundaries.
• Show isotropy of physical properties.
• They are irregular in shape.
• Textured- if majority grains have
same orientation and non-textured if
fully random grains.

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 Texture is the distribution of crystallographic orientations of
a polycrystalline sample.

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 Anisotropy and Isotropy
• In a single crystal, the physical and mechanical properties often
differ with orientation. When the properties of a material vary
with different crystallographic orientations, the material is said
to be anisotropic.

• Alternately, when the properties of a material are the same in

all directions, the material is said to be isotropic.

• For many polycrystalline materials the grain orientations are

random (non-textured) before deformation of the material is
done. Therefore, even if the individual grains are anisotropic,
the property differences tend to average out and, overall, the
material is isotropic.

• When a material is formed, the grains are usually distorted and

elongated in one or more directions which makes the material
anisotropic.

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 Non-crystalline solids
A solid which is an opposite extreme of single crystal, follows
neither reticular nor granular structure, where there is a lack of
symmetric arrangement of atoms and size of grains are comparable
to the pattern unit is known as a non-crystalline solid.

Properties
• No definite melting points.
• Becomes gradually soft when
temperature is raised.
• No long range order but may
have some short range order.
• Non –crystalline solids can be
crystalline after heat treatment.

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Crystalline Polycrystalline Non-Crystalline

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 Polymorphism
• Polymorphism refers to the ability of a solid to exist
in more than one crystalline form or structure.

• Allotropy- elemental solids.

• Polymorphism can potentially be found in many

crystalline materials including polymers, minerals,
and metals.

• Ploymorphs of SiO2: α-quartz, β-quartz, tridymite,

cristobalite, coesite, and stishovite

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 Allotropes of Iron

Temperature

Time
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 Allotropes of Tin (Sn)
α-tin or gray tin β- tin or white tin

Allotropes of Carbon
Graphite Diamond Fullerene Graphene

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Liquid crystals

• A state of matter that have

properties between those of a
conventional liquid and those of
a solid crystal.
• For instance, an LC may flow
like a liquid, but its molecules
may be oriented in a crystal-like
way.
• There are many different types
of LC phase which can be
identified by a microscope using
a polarized light source.
• Example: Ammonium oleate,
proteins, cell membranes, soap
and detergents, tobacco mosaic
virus, etc.
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