ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Chemical file format

A chemical file format is a way to save information about molecules and chemicals on a computer. It's like if you drew a picture of a molecule on paper, and then took a photo of it with your phone so you could keep it forever.

But because computers are really smart, they need to save that information in a special way so they can understand it. Like how you might draw a picture with different colors and shapes, a chemical file format has different symbols and codes for how the atoms and molecules are connected.

Think of it like putting together a puzzle. Each piece of the puzzle is a different atom or molecule, and the chemical file format shows how all the pieces fit together to make the molecule.

Scientists use chemical file formats to store and share information about all sorts of different molecules and chemicals. It's kind of like a giant library of molecular information that they can access whenever they need it.