Site description

The Molecular Symmetry Online site has several sections:

Examples - This section includes a window that enables the user to observe a number of molecules and their symmetry elements. It also provides explanations about the laws of symmetry and chemical information about the molecules selected for demonstration. The main purpose of this section is to refresh the student's knowledge of the definitions of the various symmetry elements while taking advantage of the Internet to present a three-dimensional and interactive display of molecules and their symmetry elements.

Molecular Symmetry Painter - The Painter is used for online drawing of symmetry elements (axes, planes and points) on three-dimensional molecular structures. A molecular database is provided along with the Painter. Molecules can also be uploaded from the user's computer.

Continuous Symmetry Measures - This site is a joint project of the Open University and the Hebrew University. It allows online calculation of continuous symmetry measures that determine the distance of a distorted molecule from perfect symmetry.

Links - A list of links to various websites that relate to Chemical Symmetry can be found here.

Help - This section contains instructions for downloading free software and plugins required for using the site, as well as links to help files for the various sections of the site.