Screen Shots of the AtomsmithTM Molecular Exploration Kit!
Atomsmith's main window is called the Model Window.
Models are viewed through a "virtual camera." Your mouse controls the view
of the model by moving the camera.
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Here we see a model of the molecule methanol drawn in the ball and stick model type, with the lone pairs of electrons on the (red) oxygen atom displayed. Lone pairs can play a large role in determining the 3D shapes of molecules.
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Here is the same methanol model with the Molecular Surface
drawn.
This surface, called the van der Waals surface, corresponds roughly to
the location of the "cloud" of electrons surrounding the molecule.
The surface is colored according to the electrical charge found
at each point on the surface. Red
areas are positively charged.
Blue areas are negatively charged.
Notice that the surface surrounding
the electronegative oxygen atom is very negatively charged.
This distribution of electrical charge around the atom
is called the Molecular Electrostatic Potential .
