At small sizes in the nanometer range, up to millimetres in size, with fcc metals they often have a combination of {111} and {100} facets, a low energy shape called a Marks decahedron. Relative to a single crystal, at small sizes a fiveling can be a lower energy structure due to having more low energy surface facets. Balancing this there is an energy cost due to elastic strains to close an angular gap (disclination), which makes them higher in energy at larger sizes. They can be the most stable structure in some intermediate sizes, but they can be one among many in a population of different structures due to a combination of coexisting nanoparticles and kinetic growth factors. The temperature, gas environment and chemisorption can play an important role in both their thermodynamic stability and growth. While they are often symmetric, they can also be asymmetric with the disclination not in the center of the particle.