11 of the Best Free Linux Chemistry Tools
Chemistry is the study of matter and the changes it undergoes.
It is an extremely vivacious science which deals with a molecular scale
and atomic interpretation of the world we live in, helping us to
understand that world. Chemistry is regarded as the central
science, given its close links with physics and
engineering, with biology and medicine, and with geology
and earth science.
There are a number of different branches of chemistry. These
include organic chemistry which studies the structure, properties,
reactions, and composition of carbon-based compounds, and inorganic
chemistry which deals with non-carbon compounds. Another important
subdiscipline is physical chemistry which deals with the
relations between the physical properties of substances and their
chemical formations studying, in particular, atomic, subatomic,
macroscopic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems.
Chemistry is found in many different areas including all
spheres of industry, research, teaching, forensic science, public
health and much more. Moreover, at a fundamental level we are all
chemists. Each time we breathe, boil a kettle, or strike a match, a
chemical reaction takes place. We develop and function as a
consequence of chemical processes taking place in our body. Chemistry
therefore plays a significant role in everyone's lives.
Science really prospers and advances
when individuals share the results of their experiments with
others in the scientific community. There is a certain logic
that scientific software should therefore be released under an open
source license. This article focuses on selecting the best open source
software for chemistry. Hopefully there will be something for interest
here for all budding chemists.
So, let's explore the 11 chemistry tools at hand. For each
application we have compiled its own portal page, providing a
screenshot of the software in action, a full description with an
in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant
resources and reviews.
| Chemistry Tools |
| GAMESS |
General ab initio quantum chemistry package |
| NWChem |
Ab
initio computational chemistry software package |
| Avogadro |
Advanced molecular editor |
| Gabedit |
Graphical
user interface to computational chemistry packages |
| MPQC |
Computes the properties of molecules, ab initio |
| Jmol |
Viewer
for three-dimensional chemical structures |
| MOSCITO |
Performs molecular dynamics simulations of rigid and/or
flexible molecules |
| Kalzium |
Full-featured
chemistry application for KDE 4 |
| PyMOL |
OpenGL molecular graphics system written in Python |
| Open
Babel |
Converts
and manipulates chemical data files |
| BKChem |
2D molecule editor written in Python |
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Last Updated Saturday, April 13 2013 @ 06:02 PM EDT
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