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Rotational symmetry of order n, also called n-fold rotational symmetry, or discrete rotational symmetry of the n th order, with respect to a particular point (in 2D) or axis (in 3D) means that rotation by an angle of (180°, 120°, 90°, 72°, 60°, 51 3 ⁄ 7 °, etc.) does not change the object. A "1-fold" symmetry is no symmetry (all ...
A crystal may have zero, one, or multiple axes of symmetry but, by the crystallographic restriction theorem, the order of rotation may only be 2-fold, 3-fold, 4-fold, or 6-fold for each axis. An exception is made for quasicrystals which may have other orders of rotation, for example 5-fold. An axis of symmetry is also known as a proper rotation.
Thus 5-fold rotational symmetry cannot be eliminated by an argument missing either of those assumptions. A Penrose tiling of the whole (infinite) plane can only have exact 5-fold rotational symmetry (of the whole tiling) about a single point, however, whereas the 4-fold and 6-fold lattices have infinitely many centres of rotational symmetry.
In particular, there are crystals that have trigonal symmetry but belong to the hexagonal lattice (such as α-quartz). The hexagonal crystal family consists of the 12 point groups such that at least one of their space groups has the hexagonal lattice as underlying lattice, and is the union of the hexagonal crystal system and the trigonal ...
This is followed by a digit, n, indicating the highest order of rotational symmetry: 1-fold (none), 2-fold, 3-fold, 4-fold, or 6-fold. The next two symbols indicate symmetries relative to one translation axis of the pattern, referred to as the "main" one; if there is a mirror perpendicular to a translation axis that is the main one (or if there ...
A geometrical hexafoil. The hexafoil is a design with six-fold dihedral symmetry composed from six vesica piscis lenses arranged radially around a central point, often shown enclosed in a circumference of another six lenses.
Although snowflakes are never perfectly symmetrical, the growth of a non-aggregated snowflake often approximates six-fold radial symmetry, arising from the hexagonal crystalline structure of ice. [13] At that stage, the snowflake has the shape of a minute hexagon.
In crystallography, a crystallographic point group is a three dimensional point group whose symmetry operations are compatible with a three dimensional crystallographic lattice. According to the crystallographic restriction it may only contain one-, two-, three-, four- and sixfold rotations or rotoinversions.