Question

what is the distance between nearest cation and anion in a sphalerite (ZnS) unit cell if its length is a???
ans is 0.43 a
please explain​

Answer 1

Answer:

In ZnS structure along one body diagonal, we will find one cation and an anion touching each other.

Cation is present at the middle of the distance from the center to corner as it is a tetrahedral void position.

Therefore distance of closest approach =

$\frac{ \sqrt{3} \times a }{4} = 0.43a$