Textbook Question
What is the coordination number of the metal in each of the following complexes?
(a) AgCl2-
(b) [Cr(H2O)5Cl]2+
(c) [Co(NCS)4]2-
24. Transition Metals and Coordination Compounds
Coordination Numbers & Geometry
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Iron crystallizes in the body-centered cubic (bcc) lattice. What is the coordination number for Fe in this structure?
A
8
B
4
C
6
D
12
Verified step by step guidance1
Understand that the coordination number refers to the number of nearest neighbor atoms surrounding a central atom in a crystal structure.
Recall the characteristics of the body-centered cubic (bcc) lattice: it has one atom at each corner of the cube and one atom in the very center of the cube.
Visualize or remember that in a bcc structure, the central atom touches the corner atoms, and these corner atoms are the nearest neighbors to the center atom.
Count the number of corner atoms that are nearest neighbors to the central atom. Since a cube has 8 corners, the central atom in a bcc lattice has 8 nearest neighbors.
Conclude that the coordination number for iron (Fe) in the bcc structure is 8.
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