Marvin JS Drawing Modes

Whether you are using Marvin JS to display chemical structures and reactions or to have your students draw them, you need to select the correct drawing mode for your drawing.

Note Depending on the drawing mode, Marvin JS treats hydrogen atoms as either explicit or implicit.

Explicit means that all hydrogens must be added to the drawing manually.
Implicit means that the correct number of hydrogens are automatically assumed to be present. You and your students can still add hydrogens explicitly.

Drawing modes with implicit hydrogens grade implicit and explicit hydrogens as equivalent.

The following table describes the Marvin JS drawing modes that are available in WebAssign:

Drawing Mode	Hydrogens	Atom Labels	Usage / Notes
Complete	Explicit	All atoms	Draw the entire molecular structure, including hydrogens.
Condensed	Implicit	All atoms	Especially for organic chemistry, draw the molecular structure except for hydrogens.
Lewis	Explicit	All atoms	Draw Lewis structures. Lone pairs and radicals: explicit, displayed Formal atomic charges: explicit, displayed
Mechanism	Explicit	All atoms	Draw reaction mechanisms showing the movement of electrons. Lone pairs and radicals: explicit, displayed Formal atomic charges: explicit, displayed Questions using this mode should provide a template for students to modfy.
Mechanism Advanced	Implicit	H: only for heteroatoms C: no Other atoms: yes	Draw reaction mechanisms showing the movement of electrons. Questions using this mode should provide a template for students to modfy.
Reaction	Implicit	All atoms	Draw chemical reactions. Displays molecules like condensed mode, but lets you add a reaction arrow and + signs among the reactants and the products.
Reaction Advanced	Implicit	H: only for heteroatoms C: no Other atoms: yes	Draw chemical reactions. Displays molecules like condensed mode, but lets you add a reaction arrow and + signs among the reactants and the products.
Resonance	Explicit	All atoms	Draw resonance structures. Lone pairs and radicals: explicit, displayed Formal atomic charges: explicit, displayed Questions using this mode should provide a template for students to modfy.
Skeleton	Implicit	H: only for heteroatoms C: no Other atoms: yes	Draw complex organic molecules.
Skeleton Advanced	Implicit	H: only for heteroatoms C: no Other atoms: yes	Draw complex organic molecules.
Spacefill	Explicit	None	Can be rotated in three dimensions.
3D	Explicit	None	Can be rotated in three dimensions.

Advanced Modes

Use the three advanced modes to show additional tools for your students in higher-level chemistry courses.