To determine the formula of the compound where element Y forms a cubic close-packed (CCP) lattice and element X occupies two-thirds of the tetrahedral voids, we can follow these steps:
Understanding the Lattice Structure
In a CCP lattice, there are a total of 8 tetrahedral voids for every unit cell. Since element X occupies two-thirds of these voids, we can calculate the number of occupied voids:
- Total tetrahedral voids = 8
- Occupied tetrahedral voids = (2/3) * 8 = 5.33 (approximately 5)
Counting Atoms in the Unit Cell
In a CCP lattice, there are 4 atoms of Y per unit cell. Therefore, we have:
- Atoms of Y = 4
- Atoms of X = 5 (from the occupied tetrahedral voids)
Formulating the Compound
Now, we can express the ratio of Y to X in the compound:
Final Formula
The empirical formula of the compound can be represented as:
Y4X5
This indicates that for every 4 atoms of Y, there are 5 atoms of X in the compound.