ChemTube3D vs Molecular Workbench

ChemTube3D is a free chemistry learning resource with interactive three-dimensional structures, animations, and supporting information. It covers organic mechanisms, organic structure and bonding, inorganic chemistry, polymers, and A-level chemistry for students, lecturers, and practising chemists. In a web browser, the JSmol viewer lets users manipulate animated structures. Organic reaction schemes show bond breaking and forming, charges, and lone pairs. Learning designs guide activities built around these visual models. Pages can be embedded in a learning management system or virtual learning environment through LTI; the site reports testing with Canvas and Blackboard, with the LTI tool supplied through OpenOChem. Free iOS and Android apps are available, with the iOS app offering selected Organic Chemistry and Structure and Bonding material. Selected transition-state models can be downloaded in STL and X3D formats for 3D printing. ChemTube3D also provides virtual labs, molecular modeling, and reaction simulation.

Molecular Workbench is a free modeling tool for designing and conducting computational experiments across science. Its interactive learning environment supports science inquiry, while its authoring system lets instructional designers create and publish curriculum based on models and simulations. Users can customize simulations or create their own, with topics spanning gas laws, fluid mechanics, states of matter, chemical reactions, genetics, protein synthesis, and quantum phenomena. Activities can include assessments, student-data collection, learning monitoring, and teacher feedback. Simulations can also be embedded in blogs, wikis, or web pages. The Next-Generation Molecular Workbench brings computational experiments to browsers using HTML5. An offline version is available, but it cannot access the latest simulations or collect student data. Downloads are listed for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and require Java Runtime Environment 1.5 or later. The maker says the software needs considerable computing power and may start slowly while the Java virtual machine launches. Molecular Workbench is developed and maintained by the Concord Consortium.