Symmetry Resources at Otterbein University

Welcome to the world of symmetry! The resources contained within this web site are designed to help students learn concepts of molecular symmetry and to help faculty teach concepts of molecular symmetry. The materials are designed for a variety of levels, so look around and see what we have to offer. Choose from the following pages:

D3h example
  • Symmetry Tutorial - An interactive point group symmetry tutorial. Guides students through all of the symmetry elements and operations, with interactive displays and animations.
  • The Symmetry Gallery - A collection of nearly 70 unique molecules with interactive display of all symmetry elements and animation of all operations. The molecules are organized by point group, so you can select examples to demonstrate particular symmetry elements. Includes links to the chemical literature when available.
  • The Symmetry Challenge - Using the same set of molecules from the Gallery, the Challenge includes a flow chart that details the process of determining the point group of each molecule. A great way to practice the point group determination process.

System Requirements: All pages require a modern browser with both Java and Javascript enabled. These pages have been tested with Internet Explorer (Windows), Safari (OS X, Windows), Chrome (OS X, Windows) and Firefox (OS X, Windows, Linux).

Updates: 8/11 - New pages on crystallography and crystallographic symmetry now at crystals.otterbein.edu.

8/09 - Try out the new CSDSym search function. You can search the CSD for molecules with particular point groups or space groups.

4/09 - Some errors in various structures have been corrected (thanks Andy!). The “flickering” during animations in Safari has been fixed. Everything appears to now be working in IE8.