The length of the body diagonal can be determined by measuring the edge length of the unit cell by x-ray diffraction. The body diagonal is part of a right triangle composed of a unit cell edge and a face diagonal. We can calculate the length using the Pythagorean Theorem.
The face diagonal is part of a right triangle with two unit cell edges.
The length of the body diagonal, d, in a cubic cell can found from the length of the cubic unit cell edge.
Use the links on the right to demonstrate how to calculate the body diagonal length. The links above lead to definitions.
d,
body diagonal
a,
unit cell edge
f,
face diagonal
a,
unit cell edge
a,
unit cell edge
Copyright ©
2003
by: Journal of Chemical Education Software
by: Journal of Chemical Education Software