Balloon Molecules
- The Web site -
Which advantages do balloon molecules have?
- visually impressive molecule models
- they can be used in various ways and situations
- low price
- easy to learn
- available any time due to your own work
- learning with fun
- easy, flexible, big models
The origin of balloon molecules
Modelling balloons are known first of all as a toy or in form of balloon sculptures. But there are
other possibilities….. On this web site we would like to show you how to use modelling balloons to
build chemical molecules. Basically you only need balloons, a pump and some imagination. The knots
you need are shown here.
Sometimes you will see entertainers on the streets who make little poodles out of balloons. Some
street entertainers can create several figures but very often their repertoire is limited. Because
of this shortage of many street entertainers' possible sculptures you could think that this skill
is difficult to learn. That is not true. Within a couple of minutes the skill of the 'poodle knot'
can be learned. The knotting techniques for more complicated structures can be learned quickly:
After a couple of days in which you practise knotting for about one hour, you are able to model
complex structures. Modelling balloons can very well be employed
to visualise complex chemical structures and could therefore be used by professors and lecturers at
universities or teachers at schools for a better presentation and explanation.
On this web site we would like to show and explain to you the most important knot techniques. For
each knot we put together some instructions that are presented on the following pages. The gallery
presents some pictures that show different-sized models. We decided to show models knotted by beginners
instead of perfect sculptures by professionals, in order to show that beginners are also capable of
modelling certain structures within a short time. For each knot the duration of time is given but
with growing experience and practise these times quickly become shorter.
The knots
soon: Further techniques
FAQ - Frequently asked questions
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