Molecular Orbital Viewer

Besides entertainment and work, the computer is also a suitable learning platform, with tons of dedicated applications to teach about subjects of interest. If it’s basic chemistry you’re interested in, or orbital study of particular elements, then applications like Molecular Orbital Viewer can shed some light.

Before the application can function, or even start, you need to make sure that Java Runtime Environment is installed on your PC. On the other hand, you can carry it around on a thumb drive, since installation is not required, making it possible to use on other computers without putting stability at risk, because registry entries are not modified.

The application presents a simulation in different states of the hydrogen molecular ion (H2+) in 3D. Most of the space is the preview are. You can freely interact with objects using the mouse to rotate it in place, but without a zoom function. However, there is a Scale slider which can be used to make objects larger, or smaller.

Additional sets of sliders are found in the side panel. These help make details clearer, such as brightness for phases, image resolution, separation of elements, and the previously mentioned scale. What’s more, the object can be analyzed on specific axis by slicing either on X,Y, or Y.

The preview area also holds some more related details, such as dimension values, coordinates axis, as well as an energy graph. All of these details are toggleable. Unfortunately, there’s no export option, so you need to rely on the Print Screen function to grab any images.

Although you get to study a single element, a dedicated drop-down menu lets you select the type of orbitals to display. Differences are instantly noticeable, with the same set of configurations to manage the simulation.

In conclusion, Molecular Orbital Viewer is sure to teach you a thing or two about the hydrogen molecular ion compound, or at least helps you visually understand what’s going on. Portability is a cool advantage, while intuitive controls, and interactive preview area make it worth your while.