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Bond-and-stick model of C-60 Buckminsterfullerene molecule
A ray-traced picture of a bond-and-stick model of a C-60 Buckminsterfullerene molecule, a naturally occurring form of carbon with 60 carbon atoms per molecule, arranged in the structure of a soccer ball. It is named after the architect R. Buckminster Fuller, who designed geodesic spheres, which happen to have the exact structure of C-60 molecules.
More about this image:
The model in this image is not based on the actual chemical structure of C-60 but on atom positions generated in the spirit of R. Buckminster Fuller by subdividing a regular dodecahedron. The model was generated by placing spheres at atom positions and cylinders along atom-atom bonds. The image was generated by ray-tracing the model with a reflective surface floating on top of a checkerboard. The ray-tracing algorithm used point light sources and adaptive anti-aliasing. (Year of image: 2000)
Credit: Image generated by Oliver Kreylos, Center for Image Processing and Integrated Computing (CIPIC), University of California, Davis. This image does not show an actual C-60 Buckminsterfullerene molecule.
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