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Crystal Lab › The 17 plane groups › Hexagonal

No. 16 p 6

Hexagonal plane group · 6 symmetry operations per cell · 4 Wyckoff positions

Symmetry elements and Wyckoff positions (interactive)

No. 16 p 6

Setting
Loading the group…
x = 0.10, y = 0.17, z = 0.08
Number
16
Hermann–Mauguin symbol
p 6
Lattice
Hexagonal
Operations per cell
6
General position
6d (site symmetry 1)

Wyckoff positions (standard setting)

MultiplicityLetterSite symmetry
6d1
3c2..
2b3..
1a6..

How to read it

  • Each symmetry element drawn in the cell is worked out from the group’s operations: rotation and screw axes as lines (arrow = direction; dashed = screw), mirror and glide planes as sheets (dashed outline = glide), inversion centres as dots; rotoinversion axes are dotted. Colours: 2-fold red, 3-fold green, 4-fold blue, 6-fold purple.
  • The multiplicity is how many equivalent points an atom on that site generates in the conventional cell; the general position has the highest multiplicity, equal to the number of operations.
  • Site symmetry is the point group that leaves that position fixed; a special position (lower multiplicity) sits on a symmetry element — press + on a row to see its atoms land on the drawn elements.

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