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A solid with extensive hydrogen bonding will be considered a molecular solid, yet strong hydrogen bonds can have a significant degree of covalent character. As noted above, covalent and ionic bonds form a continuum between shared and transferred electrons; covalent and weak bonds form a continuum between shared and unshared electrons.
Solid: A solid holds a definite shape and volume without the need of a container. The particles are held very close to each other. Amorphous solid: A solid in which there is no far-range order of the positions of the atoms. Crystalline solid: A solid in which atoms, molecules, or ions are packed in regular order.
In a solid, constituent particles (ions, atoms, or molecules) are closely packed together. The forces between particles are so strong that the particles cannot move freely but can only vibrate. As a result, a solid has a stable, definite shape, and a definite volume. Solids can only change their shape by an outside force, as when broken or cut.
The thermal properties of molecular solids (as, for instance, specific heat capacity, thermal expansion, and thermal conductance to name a few) are determined by the intra- and intermolecular vibrations of the atoms and molecules of the molecular solid.
In ordered solids, the atomic spacing between two bonded atoms is generally around a few ångströms (Å), which is on the order of 10 −10 meters (see Lattice constant). However, in very low density gases (for example, in outer space) the average distance between atoms can be as large as a meter. In this case, the atomic spacing is not ...
The surface atoms deviate from the bulk crystal structure and arrange in columns several atoms wide with pits between them (See surface reconstruction). While atoms are too small to be seen, devices such as the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) enable their visualization at the surfaces of solids.
In chemical physics, atomic diffusion is a diffusion process whereby the random, thermally-activated movement of atoms in a solid results in the net transport of atoms. For example, helium atoms inside a balloon can diffuse through the wall of the balloon and escape, resulting in the balloon slowly deflating.
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions.