Inexpensive Open Source Laser Cut Model Kits for the Teaching of Molecular Geometry

We recently published an article in the Journal of Chemical Education on VSEPR model kits for helping teach molecular geometry. We have used these transparent acrylic models for several years now at the University of Victoria, but the challenges of COVID-19 meant that this year we needed to make a faster, less expensive version that could be easily mailed out to our students, without requiring any sorting and packaging steps. Accordingly, we designed a version that can be cut out of 2 mm thick recycled “chipboard” cardboard, in which all 26 parts for the 13 different models fit in one piece of card 175 × 120 mm (and 16 of these kits can be cut from one sheet in the laser cutter). The material cost is less than $0.25 per kit and the cutting time on our machine (Trotec Speedy360, 130 W) is 1 minute and 45 seconds per kit. These files are made freely available for all interested users as supporting information for this contribution, in CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, pdf and dxf formats.