Question

How many tetrahedral voids are occupied in diamond?
A. $25\%$
B. $50\%$
C. $75\%$
D. $100\%$

Answer 1

In chemistry, when we talk about the hardest element then we get the name of the diamond. It is the hardest and bad conductor of electricity. It is formed by carbon under huge pressure and temperature. Generally, its atom is arranged in a crystal structure.

Complete step by step answer:
Now, we will discuss the diamond structure and its tetrahedral voids
As we know that diamond is allotropes of carbon and it has a crystal structure. According to the periodic table, Carbon belongs to the group $14$ and the rest element of this group has the same structure. Well, the common structure of diamond is known as Diamond cubic.

The diamond cubic structure consists of an $8$ atom which is in a repeating pattern.
It is followed by a face-centered cubic Bravais lattice.
And in this structure lattice has two tetrahedral bonds.
Now, come to the main point, that is each fcc unit contains $8$ tetrahedral void which is occupied by a carbon atom, but it occupies only $4$. So, $4$ the rest is left means $50\%$ are not occupied.
Therefore, only $50\%$ tetrahedral voids are occupied in diamond.

Note:
Allotropes- It is the property of an element that describes different forms of the element at the same physical state. Carbon has three famous allotropes that are Diamond, Graphite, and Buckminsterfullerene. Well, Diamond and Graphite are natural allotropes but fullerene is artificial. Graphite just unlike Diamond, It is soft and slippery, and a good conductor of electricity. The name of Graphite was given by Abraham Gottlob Warner in $1789$. While fullerene was discovered in $1985$ by scientists.
Bravais lattice- It is given in the name of the great scientist Auguste Bravais. He had given the concept of the lattice which is the array of points.