Hexagon Patterns in Chemical/Molecular Makeup

[syfry]

TL;DR Summary

Do the hexagon shapes reflect a real pattern at the atomic level?

Are physical atoms really arranged in hexagon patterns, or is that some sort of way to represent them for illustrations in textbooks and in science articles? (i.e. atoms aren't actually arranged in any hexagon pattern)

 

[Borek]

In many cases atoms do really arrange in hexagonal patterns, for example when they are arranged based on close-packing (common for many metals).

Doesn't mean every hexagonal representation exactly reflects the reality (cyclohexane is often drawn like that, but is bent), doesn't mean every metal follows close-packing.

 

[Fra]

Compounds containing aromatic rings are common in organic chemistry and in contrast to cyclohexane it is actually also planar. The average angles are explained from the electron orbitals where the electron cloud density peaks and thus where bonds are mainly formed. When drawing aromatic compounds it gets more readable to not write out every atom, so say a hexagon ring with a circle, or every other double bond, is shorthand for a benzene ring. If it has only single bonds (no ring), then it's cyclohexane.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene#/media/File:Benzene_Representations.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_aromatic_ring
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclohexane

/Fredrik