octahedron

(noun)

A polyhedron with eight faces; the regular octahedron has regular triangles as faces and is one of the Platonic solids.

Related Terms

  • bidentate
  • superposable
  • optical isomers
  • stereoisomers

Examples of octahedron in the following topics:

  • Octahedral Complexes

    • Octahedral complexes have six ligands symmetrically arranged around a central atom, defining the vertices of an octahedron.
    • The octahedron has eight faces, hence the prefix octa-.
  • Boranes: Boron-Hydrogen Compounds

    • ., B5H9 an octahedron missing one vertex)
    • arachno- (from the Greek for "spiders web") B occupies n vertices of an n+2 deltahedron (e.g., B4H10 an octahedron missing two vertices)
    • hypho- (from the Greek for "net") B occupies n vertices of an n+3 deltahedron (e.g., possibly B8H16 has this structure, an octahedron missing three vertices)
  • Crystal Field Theory

    • For example, in the case of an octahedron, the t2g set becomes lower in energy.
  • Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes

    • The removal of a pair of ligands from the z-axis of an octahedron leaves four ligands in the x-y plane.
  • Are Real Dice Fair?

    • A Platonic solids set of five dice; tetrahedron (four faces), cube/hexahedron (six faces), octahedron (eight faces), dodecahedron (twelve faces), and icosahedron (twenty faces).
  • Applying the VSEPR Model

    • In an AX6 molecule, six electron pairs will try to point toward the corners of an octahedron (two square-based pyramids joined base-to-base).
    • In an octahedral molecule, six electron pairs will try to point toward the corners of an octahedron.
  • Isomers in Coordination Compounds

    • When three identical ligands occupy one face of an octahedron, the isomer is said to be facial, or fac.
  • Molecular Geometries

    • The bond angles are all 90°, and just as four electron pairs experience minimum repulsion when they are directed toward the corners of a tetrahedron, six electron pairs try to point toward the corners of an octahedron.
  • Ionic Crystals

    • The answer is that each of those six chloride ions sits at the center of its own octahedron, whose vertices are defined by six neighboring sodium ions.
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