Ethanol C2H6O, CAS 64-17-5, 3D Model

Ethanol (C2H6O, CAS 64-17-5) — a free educational 3D molecular model for teachers and students, by MolGod.org. Whatever the filament colour, each atom reads clearly thanks to its engraved symbol.

On a typical printed molecule every sphere is the same anonymous ball, since the STL file cannot transmit the usual colour convention. MolGod engraves the element symbol directly into every atom sphere, so the identity of each atom is part of the geometry itself. We design these models so that students can name every atom straight away and concentrate on connectivity, bond types and shape. Teachers skip the modelling and labelling work entirely: download the file, set the scale in the slicer and print. Background, references and the planned classroom study: How the engraved atom letters are designed.

An acyclic molecule to start with: Ethanol joins 9 atoms through 8 bonds (all of them single), and students will not find a ring. Quick starter: ask students to count the engraved symbols (2 C + 6 H + 1 O) and check that they add up to 9 atoms and the formula C2H6O. Name-and-locate exercise: students find the hydroxyl group (-OH) on the model and afterwards write the name of every group they found. It makes alcohols and hydrogen bonding easier to see. Pair it with 1-Propanol (CAS 71-23-8) and 1-Butanol (CAS 71-36-3) from the same collection to compare closely related structures.

Teachers and students can use this MolGod.org model free of charge. Teachers: let students set the model beside a skeletal formula and list what the drawing omits.

Print it, hand it round and build a lesson around it. If you share a photo, a lesson or an adapted version, the licence (CC BY-SA 4.0) asks for credit to "MolGod.org" as the model's author, a link to the original and to the licence text, a note of what you changed, and the same licence for adaptations; the attribution line below is ready to copy. You don't need an account, you don't pay anything, and a review is entirely up to you. Printed it? Used it in class? Please share a quick review in the comments and suggest how we can make our molecules even more useful for learning. You can also contact us at Write to the MolGod team. The comment section is open for discussion: how did you introduce this molecule, and what did your students notice first? Your curriculum needs a specific compound? Share the CAS number and we will create the engraved model.

Full record and more free models: Ethanol, CAS 64-17-5: structure, properties and 3D viewer
Licence & provenance: Licence record for this Ethanol model
Same file on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ethanol-3D-molecular-model-engraved-CAS-64-17-5.stl

A ball-and-stick model of Ethanol with each element symbol recessed into its atom sphere, generated by MolGod.org from a PubChem-computed 3D conformer (not an experimental crystal structure); atomic coordinates and connectivity are unchanged. STL mesh: 98,280 triangles, closed (watertight) single solid. Coordinates in ångström (STL stores no unit) — scale the model deliberately in your slicer.

Names in other languages: éthanol (fr); etanolo (it); etanol (pl); 乙醇 (zh).

Chemical identity

• CAS Registry Number: 64-17-5

• Molecular formula: C2H6O

• Molar mass: 46.07 g/mol (exact mass 46.041864811)

• IUPAC name: ethanol

• MolGod ID: MG_787-078-128-48 (Permanent MolGod record MG_787-078-128-48)

• PubChem CID: 702 (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/702)

• Wikidata: Q153 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q153)

• EC number: 200-578-6

• ChemSpider ID: 682

• InChIKey: LFQSCWFLJHTTHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N

• SMILES: CCO

Required attribution (CC BY-SA 4.0): "Ethanol 3D model by MolGod.org — https://molgod.org/molecule/64-17-5/ — CC BY-SA 4.0"
Licence text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/