Question

What is described by the terms body-centered cubic and face-centered cubic?

Answer 1

In physical chemistry, the terms body-centered cubic  (BCC) and face-centered cubic (FCC) refer to the cubic crystal system of a solid. Each solid is made up simple building blocks called lattice units. There are different layouts of a lattice unit.

It is better understood using 3-D models shown in the picture. A BCC unit cell has one lattice point in the center, together with eight corner atoms which represents 1/8 of an atom. Therefore, there are 1+ 8(1/8) = 2 atoms in a BCC unit cell. On the other hand, a FCC unit cell is composed of half of an atom in each of its faces and 1/8 of an atom in its corners. Therefore, there are (1/2)6 + (1/8)8 = 4 atoms in a FCC unit cell.