Goal of the course is presenting methodological and structural aspects for the comprehension of ionic and molecular solids, mostly, but not only, of inorganic nature. Symmetry aspects will be introduced by a historical and morphological description, and later upgraded by a mathematical formalism to point and space groups (1D, 2D and 3D) description. The geometrical treatment will facilitate the interpretation of (optical and X-ray) diffraction physics, and the relationship between direct and reciprocal spaces, at the basis of modern crystallographic techniques.
Themes related to single crystal structural determinations will be presented, and neutron and powder diffraction structural techniques introduced. The student will then be prepared for understanding, and critically evaluating, the structural models presented in the literature, for their usage in physical-chemistry or analytical fields, or to foresee the reactivity of solids and molecules.