Physical models representing molecular architectures of chemical compounds play essential roles in understanding chemistry. The use of molecular models makes it easier to visualize the structures and shapes of atoms and molecules.

Free-energy diagrams, or reaction coordinate diagrams, are graphs showing the energy changes that occur during a chemical reaction. The reaction coordinate represented on the horizontal axis shows how far the reaction has progressed structurally. Positions along the x-axis close to the reactants have structures resembling the reactants, while positions close to the products resemble the products.  Peaks on the energy diagram represent stable structures with measurable lifetimes, while...

Learning to draw Fischer projections of molecules and understanding their relevance plays a crucial role in the visual depiction of organic molecules. A Fischer projection is a two-dimensional projection on a planar surface to simplify the three-dimensional wedge–dash representation of molecules. This is especially helpful in the case of molecules with multiple chiral centers that can be difficult to draw. Here, all the bonds of interest are represented as horizontal or vertical lines.

Chemical Bonds
The electrons of the outermost energy level determine the energetic stability of the atom and its tendency to form chemical bonds with other atoms. The innermost electron shell has a maximum capacity of two electrons, but the next two electron shells can each have a maximum of eight electrons. This is known as the octet rule, which states that, with the exception of the innermost shell, atoms are most stable energetically when they have eight electrons in their valence shell, the...

A chemical reaction is a process by which the bonds in the atoms of substances are rearranged to generate new substances. Matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction—the same type and number of atoms that make up the reactants are still present in the products. Merely, the rearrangement of chemical bonds produces new compounds.
Chemical Reactions Rearrange Atoms into New Substances
A chemical reaction takes starting materials—the reactants—and changes them...

The Arrhenius equation relates the activation energy and the rate constant, k, for chemical reactions. In the Arrhenius equation, k = Ae−Ea/RT, R is the ideal gas constant, which has a value of 8.314 J/mol·K, T is the temperature on the kelvin scale, Ea is the activation energy in J/mole, e is the constant 2.7183, and A is a constant called the frequency factor, which is related to the frequency of collisions and the orientation of the reacting molecules.
The Arrhenius equation can be used...