text: The coordination numbers are well defined for atoms in the interior of a crystal lattice: one counts the nearest neighbors in all directions. The number of neighbors of an interior atom is termed the bulk coordination number. For surfaces, the number of neighbors is more limited, so the surface coordination number is smaller than the bulk coordination number.  Often the surface coordination number is unknown or variable.  The surface coordination number is also dependent on the Miller indices of the surface. In a body-centered cubic (BCC) crystal, the bulk coordination number is 8, whereas, for the (100) surface, the surface coordination number is 4.