Potassium forms bcc unit cell structure with edge length of 522 pm. Find the radius of the potassium atom ?

Step-by-step solution

For a body-centered cubic (bcc) unit cell, the atoms touch each other along the body diagonal. The relationship between the edge length a and the atomic radius r is given by: 4r = 3 a r = 3 a 4 Given the edge length a = 522 pm. Substituting the value of a : r = 3 522 4 r = 1.732 522 4 r = 1.732 130.5 r = 226.026 pm Rounding to the nearest integer, the radius of the potassium atom is 226 pm. Answer: 226 pm