Monoclinic

Monoclinic is one of the seven crystal systems in crystallography, a field of study within mineralogy and materials science. The monoclinic crystal system is characterized by three unequal axes, two of which intersect at an angle other than 90 degrees, while the third is perpendicular to the plane of the other two.

Characteristics

In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the orthorhombic system. They form a rectangular prism with a parallelogram as its base. Hence two vectors are perpendicular (meet at right angles), while the third vector meets the other two at an angle other than 90°.

Bravais Lattices

There are three Bravais lattices in the monoclinic system. Each has a single lattice point in the conventional unit cell:

• Primitive monoclinic (mP)
• Base-centered monoclinic (mC or mS)
• Body-centered monoclinic (mA)

Crystal Classes

The monoclinic system comprises three crystal classes:

• Class 2/m (or 2/m 1 1): This is the most general class, also known as the sphenoidal class.
• Class m (or 1 1 2): The crystal classes of the monoclinic system, also known as the domatic class.
• Class 2 (or 1 1 m): Also known as the prismatic class.

Applications

Monoclinic crystals are found in a wide range of materials, from minerals to metals and ceramics. They are of significant interest in various fields such as geology, material science, chemistry, and physics due to their unique properties.

See Also

• Crystal structure
• Crystallography
• Bravais lattice
• Orthorhombic