Objectives name two types of solids give examples of crystalline and amorphous solids name the three types of cubic unit cells explain what a unit cell is and tell how many atoms are in a unit cell Types of solids Crystalline solids have atoms, molecules or ions arranged in a regular pattern.
Sodium chloride is an example of a crystalline solid.
These solids have a fundamental building block called a unit cell. The unit cell consists of a set of points that mark out the positions of atoms, ions or molecules. The locations of these points can generate a complete crystal when stacked or repeated in three dimensions. Amorphous solids have no regular pattern for molecule, atom or ion locations. Glass and tar are examples of amorphous solids.