Ball-and-stick model

A ball-and-stick model uses balls for atoms and sticks for bonds. It can be turned and viewed from different directions, so it is particularly useful for showing how atoms are arranged in three dimensions and for visualising molecular shape.

A ball-and-stick model makes bond directions and the overall three-dimensional arrangement easier to see. A space-filling model gives a better impression of how much space the atoms occupy, but bonds and atoms behind the surface may be difficult to identify.

In a ball-and-stick model, balls represent atoms and sticks represent bonds. Because the model can be viewed in three dimensions, it can show which atoms are connected and how they are arranged in space. For example, it can make clear that the atoms in some molecules do not all lie in one flat plane.