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Molecular models are an important tool for any student of chemistry.
A physical model that you can put together and play with
in your hands provides the best way to learn the fundamentals of chemistry,
both organic and inorganic. There are also computer modeling
tools which provide not only visualization and manipulation tools for any
molecule, but also computational resources for quantum chemical applications.
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Physical Models
The Journal of Chemical Education has a list of Molecular Model
Kit makers at
JCE
Molecular Model Suppliers (www.umsl.edu/~chemist/books/modelpubs.html)
JCE also has a specialized list just for
Organic
Model Kits (www.umsl.edu/~chemist/books/organic/orgmodel.html)
One of the best of these is manufactured by
Darling
Models (www.webcom.com/darling/welcome.html)
Computer Models
The Journal of Chemical Education maintains a list of computer software
at
JCE
Software Publishers (www.umsl.edu/~chemist/books/softpubs.html)
Software packages for computational chemistry, which includes visualization,
can be found at
Computational
Chemistry Laboratory (www.ccl.net/)
Finally, to visualize molecular models on the World Wide Web with your
browser, you need
MDL
Chime Plug-in (www.mdlchime.com/chime/)
http://www.chem.lsu.edu/lucid/tutorials/mol_models.htm
Copyright 2002
Department of Chemistry
Louisiana State University