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Build a Molecule

Build a Molecule Screenshot Download 5,326 kB
Version: 1.02 (change log)
Starting from atoms, see how many molecules you can build. Collect your molecules and see them in 3D!

See Below

Teaching Resources

Main Topics

  • Atoms
  • Molecules
  • Molecular Formula

Sample Learning Goals

  • Describe the differences between an atom and a molecule.
  • Construct simple molecules from atoms.
  • Recognize that the subscript in the molecular formula indicates the number of that atom in the molecule.
  • Recognize that the coefficient indicates the total number of molecules.
  • Associate common molecule names with multiple representations.

Tips for Teachers

The teacher's guide (pdf) contains tips created by the PhET team.

Teaching Ideas

Title Authors Level Type Updated
Using PhET in High School Chemistry- all my activities in pdf This contribution was designed by PhET. This contribution has received a Gold Star because it is a high quality inquiry-based activity that follows the PhET design guidelines (PDF) and teachers have found it useful. Trish Loeblein UG-Intro
HS		 Demo
CQs
HW
Lab		 7/20/13
Build a Molecule - Molecular Formulas and Coefficients This contribution was designed by PhET. This contribution has received a Gold Star because it is a high quality inquiry-based activity that follows the PhET design guidelines (PDF) and teachers have found it useful. Christine Denison, Emily Moore MS
K-5		 Lab 7/26/11
Molecules Are Made Up of Atoms This contribution has received a Gold Star because it is a high quality inquiry-based activity that follows the PhET design guidelines (PDF) and teachers have found it useful. Jackie Esler MS HW
Lab		 7/30/11
Build an Molecule - concept questions This contribution was designed by PhET. This contribution has received a Gold Star because it is a high quality inquiry-based activity that follows the PhET design guidelines (PDF) and teachers have found it useful. Trish Loeblein UG-Intro
HS
MS		 CQs 7/5/13
Build an Molecule - Inquiry-based basics This contribution was designed by PhET. This contribution has received a Gold Star because it is a high quality inquiry-based activity that follows the PhET design guidelines (PDF) and teachers have found it useful. Trish Loeblein UG-Intro
HS		 CQs
Lab
HW		 7/5/13
Concept Questions for Chemistry using PhET This contribution was designed by PhET. This contribution has received a Gold Star because it is a high quality inquiry-based activity that follows the PhET design guidelines (PDF) and teachers have found it useful. Trish Loeblein UG-Intro
MS
HS		 CQs 7/9/13
Build a Molecule Cheryl Sundberg UG-Intro Lab 10/14/13
Building and Naming Molecules Roberto Marrero HS Lab
HW		 6/30/11
분자 구성하기 SIM 사용지침서 이화국(Wha Kuk Lee) HS
MS		 Demo
Lab		 5/10/13

You can submit your own ideas and activities.

Related Simulations

Translated Versions:

Language Language (Translated) Simulation Title
Arabic العربية بناء جزيئة Run Now
Basque Basque Molekulak eraiki Run Now
Bosnian Bosnian Napravi molekulu Run Now
Brazilian Portuguese português (Brasil) Construa uma Molécula Run Now
Catalan català Construeix una molècula Run Now
Chinese - Simplified 中文 (中国) 建立分子模型 Run Now
Chinese - Traditional 中文 (台灣) 建立分子模型 Run Now
Czech čeština Stavba molekuly Run Now
Danish Dansk Byg et molekyle Run Now
Dutch Nederlands Bouw een molecuul Run Now
Estonian Eesti Ehita molekul Run Now
Finnish suomi Rakenna molekyyli Run Now
French français Construire une molécule Run Now
Galician Gallegan Constrúe unha molécula Run Now
German Deutsch Bau ein Molekül Run Now
Greek Ελληνικά Δημιουργία μορίου Run Now
Hebrew עברית בנה מולקולה Run Now
Hungarian magyar Molekulaépítő Run Now
Italian italiano Costruisci una molecola Run Now
Japanese 日本語 分子の生成 Run Now
Kazakh Kazakh молекула жинағы Run Now
Khmer Khmer បង្កើតម៉ូលេគុលមួយ Run Now
Korean 한국어 분자 구성하기 Run Now
Macedonian македонски Направи молекул Run Now
Marathi Marathi रेणु बनवा Run Now
Norwegian Bokmal Norwegian Bokmål Bygg et molekyl Run Now
Norwegian Nynorsk Norwegian Nynorsk Bygg eit molekyl Run Now
Persian Persian یک مولکول بسازید Run Now
Polish polski Zbuduj Cząsteczkę Run Now
Russian русский Построение молекулы Run Now
Serbian Српски Направи молекул Run Now
Slovak Slovenčina Vytvor molekulu Run Now
Slovenian Slovenščina Sestavi molekulo Run Now
Spanish español Construye una molécula Run Now
Spanish (Peru) español (Perú) Construir una Molécula Run Now
Swedish svenska Bygg en molekyl Run Now
Thai ไทย สร้างโมเลกุล Run Now
Turkish Türkçe Bir Molekül Yap Run Now
Turkmen Turkmen Molekulany ýasa Run Now
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt Tạo dựng một Phân tử Run Now

Software Requirements

Windows Macintosh Linux
Microsoft Windows
XP/Vista/7
Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later 		OS 10.5 or later
Sun Java 1.5.0_19 or later 		Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later

Credits

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Emily Moore (Lead)
  • Jonathan Olson (Lead Developer)
  • John Blanco (Developer)
  • Sam Reid (Developer)
  • Kelly Lancaster
  • Kathy Perkins
  • Christine Denison
  • Piccolo2D
  • Jmol
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