Molecules 2.1
A handy tool for visualizing any known molecule, including our DNA
Ever wonder what the vinegar molecule looks like. How about sugar, or insulin? Sunset Lake Software has designed an app just for that purpose, allowing you to search for, download and visualize molecules in 3D, with the ability to interact with the model on your iDevice’s display.
It’s an awesome tool, but one that hasn’t been updated in a while. Sadly, it doesn’t run natively on some devices, which means it doesn’t take full advantage of the entire display.
Visualize any molecule in 3D
Molecules serves a very simple purpose. It lets you see what a particular molecule looks like, either in ball-and-stick mode, or in space-filling mode. If you don’t know what that means, you can just glance over the screenshots and look for any molecules that have a lot of dark gray in them. The gray is the filling, and it’s just empty space. Which goes to show just how much empty space is in the stuff that makes everything around us, including ourselves.
Once you’ve selected a molecule, you can spin it around and zoom in on it to see the structure up close. The button down and to the left serves as a toggle for the continuous-spin function.
The “i” button over to the opposite side opens up a menu where you can select a molecule for viewing, see info about that molecule, and more.
Search & download
Probably the second coolest thing about Molecules (after the awesome vizualizer) is the ability to search for and download any molecule that comes to your head. Such as acids, sugars, gases, and all kinds of stuff. Strangely, if you want to analyze something as simple as the water molecule, the app can’t help you. Why? We couldn’t tell you.
The app starts off with a few molecule models that are available within the app, but you can download new ones (via search) from either the RCSB Protein Data Bank, an international repository of biological molecules, or NCBI's PubChem, a public database of compounds.
Great classroom utility
Thanks to its unique iPad interface, Molecules makes for a great classroom tool. With the mirroring function in iOS, a teacher could pass the iPad from student to student and ask them to tell the rest of the class what their favorite molecule is, and why.
It’s an awesome tool, but one that hasn’t been updated in a while. Sadly, it doesn’t run natively on some devices, which means it doesn’t take full advantage of the entire display.
Visualize any molecule in 3D
Molecules serves a very simple purpose. It lets you see what a particular molecule looks like, either in ball-and-stick mode, or in space-filling mode. If you don’t know what that means, you can just glance over the screenshots and look for any molecules that have a lot of dark gray in them. The gray is the filling, and it’s just empty space. Which goes to show just how much empty space is in the stuff that makes everything around us, including ourselves.
Once you’ve selected a molecule, you can spin it around and zoom in on it to see the structure up close. The button down and to the left serves as a toggle for the continuous-spin function.
The “i” button over to the opposite side opens up a menu where you can select a molecule for viewing, see info about that molecule, and more.
Search & download
Probably the second coolest thing about Molecules (after the awesome vizualizer) is the ability to search for and download any molecule that comes to your head. Such as acids, sugars, gases, and all kinds of stuff. Strangely, if you want to analyze something as simple as the water molecule, the app can’t help you. Why? We couldn’t tell you.
The app starts off with a few molecule models that are available within the app, but you can download new ones (via search) from either the RCSB Protein Data Bank, an international repository of biological molecules, or NCBI's PubChem, a public database of compounds.
Great classroom utility
Thanks to its unique iPad interface, Molecules makes for a great classroom tool. With the mirroring function in iOS, a teacher could pass the iPad from student to student and ask them to tell the rest of the class what their favorite molecule is, and why.
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0/5
20 Original Screenshots
Hits & Misses
hits
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misses
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Bottom Line
Design / UI6
Despite being an amazing utility, Molecules is not optimized for many iDevices and has an ancient interface. |
Function9
Lets you visualize any molecule that comes to mind, but sadly doesn’t display full screen on some devices, and lacks an atom identifier. |
Security10
Doesn’t pose any security issues. |
Battery6
Molecules drains a lot of power in some cases, especially on iPads (for some reason) |
Price10
Completely free of charge. |
Compatibility8
Poorly optimized for some devices, but at least it has a dedicated iPad version. It only requires iOS 4.2. |
Editor's Review
VERY GOOD
An amazing classroom utility, but also a great reference tool for personal use.
Specifications
- price:
- 100% Free
- current version:
- 2.1
- reviewed version:
- 2.1
- developer:
- Sunset Lake Software
- category:
- SCIENCE & EDUCATION
- os version req.:
- 4.2
- age rating:
- 4+
- in-app purchases:
- No
- hits:
- 245
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