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Tech Report

Alkanes in Motion (Program for Mac OS-Compatible Computers: J. Chem. Educ. Software Vol. 9C, No. 1)

Jae Hyun Kim

Kongju National University, Kogjusi, Chungnam, Republic of Korea 314-701

J. Chem. Educ., 1997, 74 (8), p 1015

DOI: 10.1021/ed074p1015

Publication Date (Web): August 1, 1997

Abstract

The motion of gas molecules is very complicated owing to the combination of translation, rotation, and vibration. Such motion is difficult to depict using static media, such as the printed page. Also, simple animations tend to focus on only one aspect of molecular motion. So, to improve students' understanding of molecular motion, Alkanes in Motion, a collection of clip animations generated from molecular dynamics calculations, was produced. It depicts the molecular motion of hydrocarbons in the gas phase. Four animations from the collection are presented here. These four animations consist of two animations each of hexane and octadecane, one animation calculated to show translational motion, and one to show vibrational motion.

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