Point Group Quiz

Instructions:

1. On first call, the page starts with an initial structure that is always the same, acetylene (this may require some time because Java needs to start).
2. Use the mouse to rotate the structure ("pull" the structure with the left mouse button pressed).
3. Enter the point group and press the button "check".
4. The result of the check is reported; use the button "clear" to delete this result in case your input was wrong.
5. Use the button "next structure" to see the next challenge.

	Compound: No. 3: Acetylene (seen: 1 of 94 structures)
	Point group (e.g. C2h, D3d, Dinfh):     Total result:
	Mouse Control: Left mouse button: rotate the molecule about x and y axes. Right mouse button: menue. Shift-Right mouse button: horizontal movement rotates about z axis. Ctrl-Right mouse button: shifts the molecule. Middle mouse wheel: zooms in or out.

Many structures were taken from:

• Cambridge Structural Database,
• Reciprocal Net,
• Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (FIZ),
• or were created from scratch (there is no warranty that the bond distances or bond angles are correct, symmetry was the only consideration!)

Technicalities

This page used initially the Jmol Java-Applet to display the structures.

In 2019, I switched to the JSmol java script object.

A nice tutorial on symmetry can be found at Otterbein College.

Changes

04.03.2026: 1,3,5,7-Tetrafluorocylcooctatetraene point group corrected (thanks, Lucas)