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| Introduction |
| Symmetry Elements |
| · Proper Rotation Axis |
| · Mirror Plane |
| · Inversion Centre |
| · Improper Rotation Axis |
| · Identity |
| Point Group Gallery |
| Spotting a Chiral Compound |
| · Part I - Mirror Planes |
| · Part II - Inversion Centre |
| · Part III - Improper Rotation |
| · Summary & Conclusion |
| WSM Homepage |
Molecular Symmetry and Chirality
Identity
Note: viewing the structures on these pages requires use of
the MDL Chime Plug-In.
A C1 operation, which consists of rotation by 360°,
leaves any object unchanged. This is equivalent to having done nothing
to the object, and the act of doing nothing is called the identity
operation, given the symbol E (German Einheit). It seems
silly to define a symmetry operation that equates to no operation,
but there are good mathematical reasons for its inclusion (reasons that
aren't apparent until you take linear algebra).
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This page is maintained and copyright by W. Stephen McNeil at UBC Okanagan.
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