Molecular modelling applet courtesy of ChemAxon Ltd

Creative Chemistry Molecular Models

What is here?

To help you understand organic chemistry better, I have put together some molecular models for you to play with. You can move, rotate and resize them, change them from space-filling models into wire-frame models and back again, or simply sit back and admire the animation! You do not need a plugin to view the models, but your browser must have Java enabled.

If you can see the rotating model of butanol on the left, you’re in business! Press and hold your left mouse button over the model and move the mouse about. You can do more things to the model by right clicking on the model to bring up the menu. Find out about:

• alkanes (includes methane, ethane, propane and octane).
• iodine and sodium chloride
• allotropes of carbon (graphite, diamond and buckminsterfullerene).
• tetrahedral molecules such as methane, ammonia and water (they all have a four electron pairs around their central atom).
• trigonal bipyramidal molecules such as PF₅, SF₄, ClF₃ and I₃^– (they all have five electrons pairs around their central atom).
• octahedral molecules such as SF₆, IF₅ and ICl₄^– (they all have six electron pairs around their central atom).
• isomers of organic compounds (includes chain, positional, functional, geometrical and optical isomerism). Now with isomers of hexane.
• sugars (glucose, fructose, maltose and sucrose).

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