How are Molecules in Liquid Crystals Spatially Arranged?
Liquid crystalline substances have physical properties similar to both solids and liquids. The materials flow like a liquid but possess the optical properties of some solids – directional dependent. These behaviors are due to the orientational, but not positional, long-ranged ordering of their molecules. Crystalline Solid: The positions and orientations of atoms and molecules relative to one another, within a crystalline solid, are fixed and repeats after a periodic distance. The atoms and molecules within a crytalline solid are rigidly held in it position by strong intermolecular or ionic forces and chemical bonding. Small amounts of motion are present due to thermal vibrations. A schematic of this arrangement is illustrated in the picture immediately below.
