Introducing the Molecular Models.

In organic chemistry, one way in which the imagination must be used is to visualize the molecules with which we are dealing. You may have purchased a molecular model kit to help you do this. In these tutorial pages I will be presenting you with models that you can rotate to see their three-dimensionality. Spend some time looking at these models in the various ways that the viewer allows.

As an example, below is an embeded pdb file for the molecule, methane in stick form. You need the free Chime plug-in to be able to see this. The image is rotatable and changable as follows.

Try the following:

depress the left mouse button, the model will rotate as you move the mouse

depress the shift key (non-mac machines) and the left mouse button, the model will zoom as you move the mouse.

click the right mouse button to obtain a menu, choose "DISPLAY" to change the appearance of the model

to save the current model file, choose the "FILE" option in the drop-down menu. This will store the pdb file on your computer.

More Small Molecular Models.

ethane C: grey, H: white	water O: red	ammonia N: blue

ammonium ion	chlorine Cl: green
hydrogen peroxide	hydrazine

A collection of the molecular models used in these tutorial pages, plus many more, is available.