Introduction of Crystallography

Introduction

Materials differ from one another in their properties. Some solids are brittle, some are ductile, some are malleable, some are strong, some are weak, some are good conductors of heat and electricity, some are bad-conductors of heat and electricity, some are magnetic, some are non-magnetic and so on.

The differences in the properties of the various solids are due to their structures. The behaviour of a solid material is related to its crystal structure.

Classification of Solids

From the crystal structure point of view, the solid materials are broadly classified as

(i) Crystalline materials and

(ii) Non-Crystalline or Amorphous materials