Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry
Electron density
map:
In
x-ray crystallography
, an interpretation of the
diffraction pattern
as a plot of
electron density
versus position in space. Can be thought of as a two-dimensional slice through a
molecule's
electron cloud
. Often plotted as a
topographical map
, where each atom's
electron density
is a mountain peak.
An
electron density
map.
Electron density
map with
bonds
and atomic
positions (except hydrogens) plotted.
Related terms:
Diffraction
,
constructive interference
,
destructive interference
,
reflection
,
ORTEP
Wikipedia entry
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