VIRTUAL REALITY: INTERACTIVE 3D GRAPHIC: Buckminsterfullerene (or Bucky Ball, C₆₀)

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Carbon Buckminsterfullerene: virtual reality panorama of a simplified model of Buckminsterfullerene (C₆₀) viewed from inside the Bucky Ball. To interact, simply click on the image and move cursor about. Use the + and - buttons to zoom in and out.

The carbon atoms are shown as glassy spheres at their covalent radius (i.e. just touching). Buckminsterfullerene is a form (allotrope) of carbon. In this molecule, there are sixty carbon atoms arranged in a ball (actually at the vertices of a distorted truncated icosahedron). Fullerenes have rather exotic properties and these hollow balls of carbon atoms are likely to have many uses.

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