Atomic Packing Factor

The fraction of the volume of a unit cell that is occupied by ′hard sphere′ atoms or ions.

This can be calculated using the following equation:

Where

APF = Atomic Packing Factor
Natoms = number of atoms in the crystal
Vatom = volume of individual atom
Vcrystal = volume of crystal

Examples
Body-centred cubic 0.68
Diamond cubic 0.34
Face-centred cubic 0.74
Hexagonal close-packed 0.74
Simple cubic 0.52

See also: Atom, Unit Cell.

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Subjects: Chemistry Physics