Editing Order and disorder (section)

===Lattice periodicity and X-ray crystallinity===

The strictest form of order in a solid is '''[[Lattice (order)|lattice]] periodicity''': a certain pattern (the arrangement of atoms in a [[unit cell]]) is repeated again and again to form a translationally invariant [[Tessellation|tiling]] of space. This is the defining property of a [[crystal]]. Possible symmetries have been classified in 14 [[Bravais lattice]]s and 230 [[space group]]s.

Lattice periodicity implies '''long-range order''':<ref>{{Cite web |title=Long-range order {{!}} chemistry {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/long-range-order |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> if only one unit cell is known, then by virtue of the translational symmetry it is possible to accurately predict all atomic positions at arbitrary distances. During much of the 20th century, the converse was also taken for granted – until the discovery of [[quasicrystal]]s in 1982 showed that there are perfectly deterministic tilings that do not possess lattice periodicity.

Besides structural order, one may consider [[charge ordering]], [[Spin (physics)|spin]] ordering, [[magnetic ordering]], and compositional ordering. Magnetic ordering is observable in [[neutron diffraction]].

It is a [[thermodynamic]] [[Entropy (order and disorder)|entropy]] concept often displayed by a second-order [[phase transition]]. Generally speaking, high thermal energy is associated with disorder and low thermal energy with ordering, although there have been violations of this. Ordering peaks become apparent in diffraction experiments at low energy.