The following contains excerpts and expands upon certain
features of an article which appeared in the CS Catalyst
(vol. 6, no. 2, 1998).
Using Chem3D from CambridgeSoft, unit cell models of ionic substances can be created and studied. Like organic structures, these models can be rotated, viewed using preferences such as space filling (or cylindrical bonds for an "exploded" view), and analyzed to determine distances and angles by simply selecting various ions. The interior of the lattice and simple cleavage planes can be viewed by selecting and deleting undesired exterior ions.
Because Chem3D files can be viewed using various versions of
Chem3D as well as the Chem3D component of ChemOffice Net (available at no
charge at the CS World Wide Web site), a collection of Chem3D
files for unit cell models can be used as a very useful
educational tool for teaching crystallography in various general,
physical, and inorganic chemistry courses.