Rotation Around the Central Single Bond in Butane
This movie shows butane rotating around the central carbon-carbon bond. The space filling model clearly shows that the Van Der Waals radii of the hydrogens on carbons #1 & 4 significantly overlap during this rotation. This overlap causes the eclipsed conformation to be a higher energy conformation. Conformational isomerism in butane is discussed in more detail in the following section.
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