Why make molecular models?
Models of molecules show the position of the different atoms, more or less to scale and usually with colour coding, and demonstrate how they are bonded together. Chemists don’t think that models such as these show what molecules ‘really look like’; models are useful tools for visualising the structures and shapes of groups of atoms, which is important in understanding their behaviour. You can feel the shape of the atom groups and investigate how the molecule can move or bend. Models have been used to represent arrangements of atoms throughout the development of modern atomic theory. The Science Museum in London has wooden models of atoms used by John Dalton XR (1766-1844) in his lectures. However, it has been suggested that Kepler XR used models to depict atoms as early as 1611. All of the sets of models in the Whipple Museum date from the 20th century.
