Triclinic crystal system

The triclinic crystal system has unit cells with three unequal edge lengths and three unequal interaxial angles, none of which is 90 degrees. It has the least symmetry of the seven crystal systems.

Unit cell: The smallest repeating structural unit whose translations generate a crystal lattice. Its three edge lengths and three angles define triclinic cell geometry.
Lattice parameters: The edge lengths and angles that specify a unit cell's geometry. All six parameters may vary independently in a triclinic cell.
Monoclinic crystal system: A crystal system with three unequal cell edges, two right angles, and one non-right angle. It shares unequal edges but imposes two right angles absent in triclinic cells.
Albite: A sodium-rich feldspar mineral with the chemical formula NaAlSi₃O₈. Albite is a familiar mineral that crystallizes in the triclinic system.
Lattice system: A classification of crystal lattices based on their geometric constraints and symmetry. It distinguishes triclinic lattice geometry from other lattice classes.
Reciprocal lattice: A lattice in reciprocal space encoding periodicity and diffraction directions. Its geometry supports diffraction analysis of triclinic crystals.
Triclinic crystal class: The crystal class containing the identity-only and inversion-only point groups. It describes point symmetry within the broader triclinic system.
Microcline: A potassium feldspar mineral that crystallizes in the triclinic system. Its structure illustrates triclinic symmetry in a common rock-forming mineral.
Crystal system: A classification of crystals by the symmetry of their lattice and associated point group. Triclinic is one of the seven crystal systems.
X-ray crystallography: A method for determining atomic structures from X-ray diffraction by crystals. Measured diffraction can reveal the low-symmetry triclinic unit cell.

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