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Natural forms · Salts & crystals: 30 3D models
Every element as an atom, orbitals and bonding, crystals, ions and complexes, real compounds from every field of chemistry, substances in their natural form, electrochemistry and lab experiments (real sizes atoms → lab bench). Each one is a ready-made 3D model you can turn, recolour and place in a figure — open BioDioRama and type its name in the Library search.
- Table salt (sodium chloride crystals) — Common salt: colourless cubic crystals of sodium chloride. (NaCl) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Rock salt (halite) — Halite, the mineral form of sodium chloride: large cubic crystals, often tinted pink or orange. (NaCl) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Sugar (sucrose crystals) — Granulated table sugar: small monoclinic crystals of sucrose. (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Copper(II) sulfate crystals (blue vitriol) — Bright blue triclinic crystals of copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate; heating drives off the water and leaves a white powder. (CuSO₄·5H₂O) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Potassium permanganate crystals — Dark purple, almost black needles with a metallic sheen; they dissolve to a deep purple solution. (KMnO₄) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Potassium dichromate crystals — Bright orange-red crystals of potassium dichromate, a strong oxidising agent (toxic, carcinogenic). (K₂Cr₂O₇) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Potassium chromate crystals — Lemon-yellow crystals of potassium chromate. (K₂CrO₄) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Potash alum crystals (octahedral) — Clear octahedral crystals of potassium alum — easy to grow at home from a seed crystal. (KAl(SO₄)₂·12H₂O) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Chrome alum crystals — Deep violet octahedra of chrome alum. (KCr(SO₄)₂·12H₂O) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Nickel(II) sulfate crystals — Emerald-green crystals of hydrated nickel(II) sulfate. (NiSO₄·6H₂O) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Iron(II) sulfate crystals (green vitriol) — Pale blue-green crystals of iron(II) sulfate heptahydrate. (FeSO₄·7H₂O) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Cobalt(II) chloride (hydrated, pink) — Pink hydrated cobalt(II) chloride turns blue when dry — the humidity indicator in silica gel and test papers. (CoCl₂·6H₂O) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Iron(III) chloride (anhydrous) — Dark green-black crystals with a metallic sheen that make a brown solution — the PCB etchant. (FeCl₃) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Silver nitrate crystals — Colourless crystals that stain skin black; the reagent for the halide test. (AgNO₃) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Borax crystals — White prismatic crystals of borax. (Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) — Needle-like crystals of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate. (MgSO₄·7H₂O) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Quartz crystals — Six-sided quartz prisms capped with pyramids — silicon dioxide. (SiO₂) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Amethyst (purple quartz) — Quartz coloured purple by traces of iron and natural radiation. (SiO₂) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Calcite crystals (Iceland spar) — Clear rhombohedra of calcite — look through one and you see double (birefringence). (CaCO₃) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Pyrite ("fool’s gold") — Brassy-yellow cubes of iron disulfide, often mistaken for gold. (FeS₂) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Galena (lead sulfide) — Heavy, silver-grey cubes of lead sulfide — the main lead ore. (PbS) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Fluorite crystals — Calcium fluoride in purple and green cubes or octahedra — the mineral fluorescence is named after. (CaF₂) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Gypsum (selenite) — Clear, soft blades of selenite gypsum — the raw material of plaster. (CaSO₄·2H₂O) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Malachite (green copper carbonate) — Banded green malachite — the mineral of basic copper carbonate. (Cu₂CO₃(OH)₂) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Azurite (blue copper carbonate) — Deep blue azurite, a copper carbonate mineral once ground for blue paint. (Cu₃(CO₃)₂(OH)₂) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Cinnabar (mercury sulfide) — Brick-red cinnabar, the ore of mercury and the pigment vermilion. (HgS) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Magnetite (lodestone) — Black octahedra of magnetite — naturally magnetic iron oxide. (Fe₃O₄) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Ruby (corundum) — Aluminium oxide coloured red by a trace of chromium (sapphire is the same mineral with iron and titanium). (Al₂O₃ : Cr) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Sapphire (corundum) — Blue corundum, coloured by iron and titanium. (Al₂O₃ : Fe, Ti) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))
- Emerald (beryl) — Green beryl, coloured by chromium or vanadium. (Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈ : Cr) (≈ 5–20 cm (a lab sample))