The coordination number of a body-centred atom in cubic structure is

Options

A. 4
B. 6
C. 8
D. 12

Answer

To determine the coordination number of a body-centered atom in a cubic structure, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Understand the Body-Centered Cubic (BCC) Structure
In a body-centered cubic (BCC) structure, there are atoms located at each of the eight corners of the cube and one atom located at the center of the cube.

### Step 2: Identify the Coordination Number
The coordination number is defined as the number of nearest neighbor atoms surrounding a central atom. In the case of the body-centered atom, we need to identify how many corner atoms are in contact with the body-centered atom.

### Step 3: Analyze the Position of Atoms
In the BCC structure:
- The body-centered atom is at the center of the cube.
- The corner atoms are located at the vertices of the cube.

### Step 4: Count the Nearest Neighbors
Each corner atom touches the body-centered atom. In a BCC unit cell:
- There are 8 corner atoms.
- Each of these corner atoms is a nearest neighbor to the body-centered atom.

### Step 5: Conclusion
Thus, the coordination number of the body-centered atom in a body-centered cubic structure is **8**.

### Final Answer
The coordination number of a body-centered atom in a cubic structure is **8**.

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