If you don't see a picture of a molecule below, you need the free ChemScape Chime browser plug-in.If the Chime plug-in is working properly in your browser, you will be able to see a model of acetic acid in the onscreen window below. This is called a space-filling model, because the atoms are made large enough to indicate the volume they actually occupy.If you want to know how to use Chime in your own web pages, you need to go here.
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space-filling model |
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| acetic acid |
If you left-click and drag on the picture, the molecule will rotate freely. Now right-click on the picture. A menu will appear which will allow you to manipulate the model in several ways. Click on Rotate, then on Start. The molecule will begin to rotate in the window under its own steam. Stop the rotation by clicking Rotate, then Stop. (In the newer version of Chime, the Rotate function is a toggle.)
Bring up the menu again and click Display. The options available will be Wireframe, Sticks, Ball & Stick and Spacefill. Look at each of the display modes; stick and ball-and-stick models of acetic acid are shown below.
| stick model | ball-and-stick model |
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