The best way to tell you about this software is to show how it is done and to insert some equations into this text. Suppose you are writing a chemistry test and wish to write the equation that represents magnesium oxide solid reacting with aqueous HCl to form aqueous magnesium chloride with the help of a catalyst. Here is what you would do:

1. Click on the little molecule symbol that is created by this add-in on the right end of the normal toolbar (in Word). Instantly a small box appears at the cursor position.
2. Type, without capitalization:
   mgo(s) + hcl(aq)=“catalyst”>mgcl2(aq) + h2o(l)
3. Click outside the box. That’s all. You are done.
   

What appears in your document is

Please notice that I did not capitalize anything. FX Chem does all that for you. The = followed by the > creates the arrow, and the text in quotes is placed above the arrow. It’s difficult at first use not to capitalize letters, but there is a reason for using only lowercase and letting the program correct it. There are a few cases where the program does not know what you want. For example is co to be CO or Co? In these cases the program assumes CO, but if you want Co simply capitalize the C and the program becomes aware that you want Co, not CO. Nickel is a similar case, as is silicon.

If you wished to type the balanced equation you would type the coefficients. FX Chem can tell by the location of the numbers relative to the symbols which are to be coefficients and which are to be subscripts. Incidentally, FX Chem does not balance equations. There does exist software to do this, but FX Chem is not that software. It is simply a good equation writing tool.

The program can figure out complex charges and parentheses. For example, typing

8h3o+(aq)+mno4-(aq) + 5fe2+(aq)=>
5fe3+(aq) + mn2+(aq) + 12h2o(l)

does not confuse it at all. This yields

and, similarly,

cn- + fe(cn)63-=>cno- + fe(cn)64-

yields

With version 2, nuclear equations are not a problem. For example

{7,14}n + {2,4}he=>{9,18}f=>{8,17}o + {1,1}h

will yield

and, because of the preceding nuclear braces, typing p for hydrogen will not be interpreted as phosphorus, but as a proton.

Notice that, in this second version, I thought the arrows should be shorter. Adjusting the font size can control whether arrows are to be single or double pronged, and many other features.

However, I was unable to draw a single backwards arrow.

I am not aware of other software that does quite the same job as this does. There is a program for formulas called Character Map, by SV-Software Ltd.¹ that creates a new font page, including arrows and some useful characters not on the symbols character map. But this does not come close to the convenience of FX Chem.

A trial version of FX Chem can be downloaded from Efofex Software (accessed Oct. 2002). A current price list is also available at this site.

Notes

1. Character Map is available from the author, Vladimir Bazeltsev.