Skip to Main Content
PhET Home Page
University of Colorado
Created 6/11/17. Updates available online.

Build a Molecule

Build a Molecule Screenshot
  • Atoms
  • Molecules
  • Molecular Formula

About

Topics

  • Atoms
  • Molecules
  • Molecular Formula

Description

Starting from atoms, see how many molecules you can build. Collect your molecules and see them in 3D!

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.
Version 1.03

For Teachers

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Title Gold Star Contribution Contribution by PhET Authors Level Type
Concept Questions for Chemistry using PhET A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein MS
UG-Intro
HS		 MC
Using PhET in High School Chemistry- all my activities in pdf A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro		 HW
Lab
Demo
Build an Molecule - Inquiry-based basics A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro		 HW
CQs
Lab
Build an Molecule - concept questions A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro
MS		 CQs
Build a Molecule - Molecular Formulas and Coefficients A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Christine Denison, Emily Moore K-5
MS		 Lab
Molecules Are Made Up of Atoms A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Jackie Esler MS HW
Lab
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? This contribution was designed by PhET. Sarah Borenstein MS Other
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS Other
PhET Sims Aligned to the Chemistry Curriculum This contribution was designed by PhET. Julia Chamberlain HS
UG-Intro		 Other
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment Elyse Zimmer MS
HS		 Other
Build a Molecule Lab! Jamie Schoenberger MS Guided
Lab
pHet Building Molecules Virtual Lab - HS Chem1 level laura peck HS Guided
Lab
Making Molecules Paul Grafstrom HS Lab
Build a Molecule Cheryl Sundberg UG-Intro Lab
Building and Naming Molecules Roberto Marrero HS HW
Lab
Bouw een molecuul Niloufar Sekandari HS MC
HW
분자 구성하기 SIM 사용지침서 이화국(Wha Kuk Lee) MS
HS		 Lab
Demo

Share an Activity!

Translations

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

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
English
©2017 University of Colorado.
Some rights reserved.