Editing Copper(I) oxide (section)

== Structure ==
[[Image:Cuprite-66649.jpg|thumb|left|110px|Large crystal of the mineral form of copper(I) oxide ([[cuprite]]).]]
In terms of their coordination spheres, copper centres are 2-coordinated and the oxides are [[Tetrahedral molecular geometry|tetrahedral]].  The structure thus resembles in some sense the main [[Silicon dioxide#Crystalline forms|polymorphs of SiO<sub>2</sub>]], but cuprous oxide's lattices interpenetrate.  Cu<sub>2</sub>O crystallizes in a [[Cubic crystal system|cubic]] structure with a lattice constant ''a''<sub>l</sub>&nbsp;= 4.2696&nbsp;Å. The copper atoms arrange in a [[Bravais lattice|fcc]] sublattice, the oxygen atoms in a [[Bravais lattice|bcc]] sublattice. One sublattice is shifted by a quarter of the body diagonal. The [[space group]] is Pn{{overline|3}}m, which includes the [[point group]] with full octahedral symmetry.