Help Index
Bondit Help Index

Menu Items

Molecule

Edit

View

Practice

General Procedures

Making a molecule

                Saving a structure

Retrieving a structure

Viewing a 3-D structure

Preloaded molecules

Copying a formula or structure to another application


Molecule Menu
Molecule

New

Open	Save	Save As

Exit


Edit menu
Edit

Undo	Add Electron	Subtract Electron	Abbreviate H's	Copy to Clipboard


View Menu
View

Click on 3-D model to see a three-dimensional representation of a completed molecule.  Pressing the "End" key will accomplish the same thing.  The molecule may be rotated using the arrow keys or moved using the shift and arrow keys.  Press "Home" to return.


Practice Menu
Practice

Click on Start Lab or Organic Chemistry to do a series of preloaded molecules.  A completed molecule may be seen in three-dimensions by clicking on View|3-D model.   A new menu bar will appear.  To start the same molecule again choose the Repeat menu item.  To go on to the next molecule click on the Next  menu item.   You may Quit at any time by choosing Practice|Quit (returns to the regular program) or by choosing Molecules|Exit (terminates the program).


Making a Molecule
Make

  The goal of bondit is to draw an electron dot representation (Lewis formula) of molecules which follow the octet rule.  To choose an atom click the appropriate symbol on the left of the screen.  The atom chosen will appear on the right.  The atom may be moved by placing the mouse cursor over it, clicking the left mouse button, and dragging the atom to the area desired.  To bond one atom to another select a single atom by using the mouse and move it so that it is placed above the atom with which you wish to bond.  Releasing the mouse button will bond the two atoms together if possible.  An atom cannot exceed 8 electrons (a single bond counts as 2) except hydrogen which cannot exceed 2 electrons.  Multiple bonds may be made by clicking the right mouse button over the existing bond you want to make a multiple bond.  If there are too many or not enough electrons for bonding  a multiple bond will not form.  Cations and anions can be made by choosing the Edit|Add Electron or Edit|Subtract Electron menu items.


Molecule|Open
 Open

This menu item will open a previously saved molecule.  Use the mouse or keyboard to select the file of interest.


Molecule|New
New

This menu item will start a new molecule.


Molecule|Save
Save

To save a molecule choose this option.  If the molecule already has a name the new state of the molecule will replace the former state.  If the molecule does not have a name you will be asked for one.  Use a single word with no spaces of 8 letters or less.


Molecule|Save As
SaveAs

To save a molecule under a different name while retaining the molecule with the former name use this option.  You will be asked for a filename.  Use a single word with no spaces of 8 letters or less.


Molecule|Exit
Exit

This command will terminate the program.


Edit|Undo
Undo

Choose this menu item to return to the state of the molecule before your previous procedure.


Molecule|Add Electron
Add Electron

To add an electron to an atom choose this menu item and then click the right mouse button on the atom which is to gain the electron.


Molecule|Subtract Electron
Subtract Electron

To subtract an electron from an atom choose this menu item and then click the right mouse button on the atom which is to lose the electron.


Copying a molecule or structure
Copying a molecule or structure to the Clipboard

To copy a molecule or structure to the clipboard choose Edit|Copy to Clipboard when viewing the molecule or Copy to Clipboard if viewing the structure.  The molecule or structure will be copied to the clipboard.  To transfer the molecule or structure to another application start the application and choose Edit|Paste.  The molecule or structure will be copied to your application and you can change it as you would any object added.


Edit|Abbreviate H's

Occasionally you may wish to abbreviate a molecule so that you may bond other atoms.  To do so click on this menu item.  All H atoms will be abbreviated.