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What are the 14 Bravais lattices used to describe?

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A rough, translucent yellow crystal of elemental sulfur displayed against a solid black background. — crystal A crystal form of elemental sulfur. Sulfur has an atomic weight of about 32.06 atomic mass units (amu), which means that its molar mass is 32.06 grams.

The 14 Bravais lattices are used to describe the orderly, three-dimensional arrangements of atoms within a crystal.1

In this framework, each point in the lattice represents one or more atoms. By connecting these points, the structure is divided into identical blocks known as unit cells. While there are seven fundamental crystal systems based on the shape of these unit cells, the 14 Bravais lattices account for additional variations where lattice points may be located at the centers or on the faces of the cells, rather than just at the corners.12

Demonstrated by the scientist Auguste Bravais in 1850, these 14 configurations represent all possible ways that points can be arranged in a three-dimensional space to maintain translational symmetry.12