My Easy Science
Molecule Views
The same 6 views we made for ethanol, now for any molecule. Search PubChem, pick a structure, and see it 6 ways.
Try one
Views
About the data
Structures and data come live from PubChem (National Library of Medicine). Group labels are found from the structure itself: oxygen, nitrogen and carbon patterns plus rings. If a molecule has no common group, the page says so instead of guessing.
Search for a molecule to see it six ways.
Try the Ethanol chip to start.
1. The structure, with its groups labelled
Numbered badges mark the parts found in this molecule. The list below the drawing explains each one.
2. Hydrogen bonding
Like ethanol, molecules with an OH or NH group can link to each other with hydrogen bonds, shown as dashed lines.
3. The parts of the molecule
Every group found in this molecule, with a plain explanation of what it means.
4. Four ways to draw the same molecule
Chemists switch between these all the time. Same molecule, four drawings.
5. How it is made
The classic school or industry way to make this molecule, when one is known.
6. Chemistry in easy words
Atom names, how the atoms are joined, valency, hydrogen bonding, and charge, in plain words.
Type a molecule name or formula, then tap Search.
How it works
Search for any molecule by name or formula — try ethanol, caffeine or benzene. My Easy Science asks PubChem, the free chemistry database run by the US National Library of Medicine, for that molecule's 2D structure, formula, molecular weight and hydrogen-bond counts. The six views are then drawn from that one structure, right in your browser: the labelled structure marks each functional group with a numbered badge; the hydrogen-bonding view shows whether molecules of it can link to each other; the parts view lists every group found; the four-drawings view shows the same molecule as a condensed formula, a skeletal drawing, a ball-and-stick model and a space-filling model; the synthesis view gives the classic way to make it, when one is known; and the easy-words view explains atoms, bonding, valency, hydrogen bonding and charge in plain language.
Worked example: ethanol. Search "ethanol" and pick the first result. Its formula is C₂H₆O and its molecular weight is 46.07 g/mol. View 1 marks the hydroxyl group (-OH) and the methyl and methylene groups. View 2 shows it can hydrogen-bond, with 1 donor and 1 acceptor — one reason ethanol mixes with water. View 4 shows the same molecule four ways: the condensed formula C₂H₆O, the skeletal drawing, the ball-and-stick model and the space-filling model. View 5 gives its classic synthesis: ethylene plus water gives ethanol (C₂H₄ + H₂O → CH₃CH₂OH).
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