ChemCollective Virtual Lab vs Polychem
ChemCollective Virtual Lab
chemcollective.orgPolychem
polychem.orgSide by side
| Figure | ChemCollective Virtual Lab | Polychem |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Chemistry Simulation Software | 9.0 (#2) | 7.6 (#17) |
| Audience | The project aims to help high school and college students approach chemistry more like practicing scientists. | The program is aimed at senior high school and college chemistry, with an emphasis on applied chemistry. |
| Customization | Teachers can configure aqueous simulations, chemicals and which laboratory tools students can use. | Teachers can edit notes and examination questions, add their own questions using a multiple choice template, and record or direct-mail results. |
| Purpose | The Virtual Lab is an online chemistry lab simulation designed to connect chemical computations with authentic laboratory chemistry. | Polychem is an interactive multimedia chemistry tutorial and simulation tool for teachers and students. |
Plans
ChemCollective Virtual Lab
- ChemCollective Virtual LabFree
- Free accessFree
In their own words
ChemCollective Virtual Lab
ChemCollective Virtual Lab is an online chemistry simulation that connects calculations with laboratory-style experiments. Students and educators can use its web activities without licensing requirements, including experiments with hundreds of standard aqueous reagents across acid-base chemistry, thermochemistry, solubility, and redox topics. Teaching resources include prepared lab problems, tutorials, courses, real-world scenarios, visualizations, simulations, and concept tests. Autograded activities randomize unknowns and check answers, with hints and feedback. Teachers can make free classroom pages that collect activity links, instructions, and handouts, and track attempts on autograded problems. Instructors may modify activities or request custom ones. Downloadable versions for Windows and Mac are available, though Java may be needed. The project aims to help high school and college students approach chemistry like practicing scientists. Its current scope is aqueous reactions. The Virtual Lab is free for educators and students; the site and its contents are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 NonCommercial-NoDerivs.