Calcite atomic structure

3D Model

At the right side of the upper row you can see the structure of NaCl. However the grey atoms are of carbon, and green ones of calcium. It would be all fine if the carbon atoms were alone. The formula of calcite is not CaC, but CaCO3, where CO3 ions are not round. This forces deformation of the net.
In the top row from right to left you can observe it step by step. All the time the distances between carbon atoms and calcium atoms stay the same. First a prism with a diamond base is obtained. Then it is tilted to get all faces identical. Atoms are shown much smaller than they are in order to make the models clear.

In the last model in the upper row all atoms are of full size. You can see that there are calcium layers and CO3 layers. They are put on each other in the direction of the arrow. To differenciate the layers of calcium shades of green are introduced.

At the right side of the bottom row the primitive cell is shown.