Methane 3D Molecular Model — CAS 74-82-8

Methane (CH4, CAS 74-82-8) — a free educational 3D molecular model for teachers and students, by MolGod.org. Instead of colour coding, every sphere carries its engraved element symbol.

A one-colour print of a molecule hides the most basic information, which element each atom is, because STL keeps no colour data. The MolGod approach puts the information where students look for it, on the atom: every sphere is engraved with its symbol. Our goal is to let students understand on their own how the atoms are arranged, how they are bonded and what the 3D geometry looks like, straight from the model in their hands. 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.

No ring closes anywhere in Methane, which makes it a good open-chain example: 5 atoms, 4 bonds, all of them single. Hand the model round and let students tally the engraved atoms: 1 C + 4 H, 5 in total. Use it when you teach saturated carbon chains and tetrahedral (sp3) carbon. Computed hydrogen-bonding count: none in either direction, so it pairs well with an alcohol in a lesson on forces between molecules. With every carbon sp3-hybridised, the model is a clean example of tetrahedral carbon throughout.

MolGod.org builds and releases these models at no cost for chemistry teaching. Teachers: give each table a model and have students write the formula from the engraved atoms.

The model is yours to download, print and teach with. When you publish a photo, a worksheet or a remix, CC BY-SA 4.0 requires you to credit "MolGod.org" as the author of the model, link to the original and to the licence, indicate any changes and share remixes under the same licence (the ready attribution line is below). No sign-up, no fees and no review required. Teachers and students, we read every comment. Tell us in a review how the model worked for you and what we could do better for education; for longer feedback write to Write to the MolGod team. Curious about bond angles, isomers or where this compound appears in everyday life? Ask below and let's discuss it together. Missing a compound for your lesson? Give us the CAS number and we are happy to create its 3D model.

Full record and more free models: Methane, CAS 74-82-8: structure, properties and 3D viewer
Licence & provenance: Licence record for this Methane model
Same file on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Methane-3D-molecular-model-engraved-CAS-74-82-8.stl
Plain-text record for AI assistants: Methane data sheet in plain text for LLMs
Also published on: Zenodo (DOI, latest version) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23718987

A ball-and-stick model of Methane 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: 50,178 triangles, closed (watertight) single solid. Coordinates in ångström (STL stores no unit) — scale the model deliberately in your slicer.

Names in other languages: Methan (de); méthane (fr); metano (it); methaan (nl); metan (pl); 甲烷 (zh).

Chemical identity

• CAS Registry Number: 74-82-8

• Molecular formula: CH4

• Molar mass: 16.043 g/mol (exact mass 16.0313001276)

• IUPAC name: methane

• MolGod ID: MG_421-499-313-76 (Permanent MolGod record MG_421-499-313-76)

• PubChem CID: 297 (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/297)

• Wikidata: Q37129 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37129)

• EC number: 200-812-7

• ChemSpider ID: 291

• InChIKey: VNWKTOKETHGBQD-UHFFFAOYSA-N

• SMILES: C

Required attribution (CC BY-SA 4.0): "Methane 3D model by MolGod.org — https://molgod.org/molecule/74-82-8/ — CC BY-SA 4.0"
Licence text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/