Rods holding molecules together ?

[khermans]

I was just wondering, what are the rods composed of that hold the molecules together in substances such as water? You have hydrogen and oxygen atoms, but I always see these life-size models of the molecules being held together with rods in between each atom - with no explanation of what they are! I have never really looked at this stuff under a powerful microscope, and thus only have what is on the net and in books. Can someone tell me what these rods are composed of? Or are they just for utility?

Kristian Hermansen

[selfAdjoint]

The rods are just conventional, although they can be made to represent the type and length of the bond. The bond is the chemical bond, composed of quantized electromagnetic forces.

[Gonzolo]

The rods in models are only there for utility as you say, and no microscope will allow you to see anything in their place. If someone made a model of you standing on the earth, he would need glue, or a rod, to connect your action figure to a globe. This rod would "be gravity". For a molecule, the rod is "what makes + attract -", or the electromotive force.