| Product Name: |
Molecules - 3D 2.1 |
| Level: |
Second Year Tertiary / Third Year Tertiary |
| Platform: |
Macintosh® / PC - Windows® |
| Supplied Information: |
Molecules-3D is a three-dimensional molecular model building program. |
| Possible Use: |
This product is suitable for Second Year Tertiary / Third Year Tertiary courses for use by students working under instruction. |
| Price: |
US$29.95 |
| Review: |
Molecules-3D is a three-dimensional molecular model building program for Windows and the Macintosh from Mosby Year-Book Inc. and Molecular Arts Corporation. It is ìdesigned for both students and professional scientistsî to enable them ìto build, examine, modify, and transfer 3D models and sophisticated 3D graphic images into other applicationsî. Molecules-3D program includes the following modules.
COACH LEWIS: a guide to the drawing of Lewis structures which serves as an introduction to the building of 3D models.
3D BUILDER/EDITOR: a construction kit for the building and editing of 3D structures.
PAGE VIEWER: a format that allows, among other uses, the design of a page layout of the molecules produced in the 3D Builder/Editor for printing, etc. 3D MOLECULAR LIBRARY: a data base of some 100 structures that can be edited and adapted. Molecules-3D has been reviewed only as a teaching aid/self-learning tool. The Coach Lewis module of the software provides a sequence of steps for the production of any Lewis structures with an error indication when a mistake is made in that step. The manipulation of electron pairs can be difficult as well as frustrating and needs some practice. The printing quality of the manuals supplied is poor with the result that the illustrations of the buttons on toolbars and the palette for molecule construction are, at times, indecipherable. The standard line representation of molecules can be produced in the 3D molecule builder module relatively easily although some of the building tools are not intuitive and need practice. Again, the printing quality of the manual is a problem. A pleasing features of the software is the ease with which the molecular line representations can be converted into 3D space filling and stick and ball models. The ability to change dihedral angles and to rotate the models quickly is useful. Molecules-3D provides a useful tutorial or self-learning tool for providing practice in drawing Lewis structures and for emphasising the spatial aspects of isomerism, in particular configurational and conformational isomerism. |
|
Raymond K Pierens, School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, pierens@chem.usyd.edu.au |
| |
| Supplier: |
Trinity Software, Inc.
Village Square Suite 215
607 Tenney Mountain Highway
Plymouth, NH 03264 |
|
trsoft@lr.net |
|
http://www.trinitysoftware.com/ |
|
phone: (800)-352-1282 |
|
fax: (603)-536-9951 |
| Date Record Last Modified: |
29/8/97 |
