Cesium Chloride Unit Cell Model

A cesium chloride (CsCl) unit cell structure made with the Indigo® 68765W molecular model kit can demonstrate O_h point group symmetry, simple cubic crystal structure, and 8:8 coordination geometry. It is a valuable learning tool for solid state chemistry, crystallography, materials science, and inorganic chemistry.

The Indigo® 68765W model kit can build a cesium chloride (CsCl) unit cell as an example of the simple cubic crystal structure important in solid state chemistry and inorganic crystallography. CsCl belongs to the O_h point group and crystallographic space group Pm3?m. In the model, large green Cs⁺ ions occupy the eight corners of the unit cell while a single silver Cl^- ion sits at the body center. This gives each ion a coordination number of eight, the highest coordination number encountered in simple binary ionic structures. The CsCl structure is body-centered cubic (BCC) since BCC requires both atoms to be chemically identical. Other compounds adopting the CsCl structure include cesium bromide (CsBr), cesium iodide (CsI), and thallium chloride (TlCl).