VSEPR Molecule Builder
Explore ideal AXE molecular shapes and the positions of bonds and lone pairs.
About this tool
Choose an arrangement or enter X (bonded atoms) and E (lone pairs), then Display. All fifteen AXE combinations with X≥2 and 2–6 electron domains are available. Drag the view to rotate. With focus on the drawing, arrow keys rotate and Home resets the view. Ordinary wheel motion scrolls; Ctrl/Meta+wheel zooms the WebGL view. Reset restores AX4E0 and clears the drawing.
Ideal geometry. X+E determines electron-domain geometry; omitting lone pairs determines molecular shape. Multiple bonds count as one domain. Lone pairs occupy equatorial positions in a trigonal bipyramid; two octahedral lone pairs occupy opposite sites. Angles are calculated from the actual ideal bond vectors, including all distinct angles. These are not measured angles: water and ammonia have compressed bond angles that this ideal-domain model does not predict.
Orange is the central atom, blue the bonded atoms, violet schematic lone pairs. Pair markers are not electron-density orbitals. Bond lengths are schematic; no formula parsing, real structure, optimization or molecular dynamics. The compact 3D view uses WebGL when available and an interactive vector drawing otherwise. No automatic rotation. Valid settings survive reload; Display is required again.