A simple method for finding the plane of a planar, or partly planar, molecule

The plane of a molecule may be found simply by calculating the equations of all planes passing through the origin and two of the peaks in Patterson space, and the distances of all other peaks from each such plane. From the results, the approximate equation of the molecular plane will be obvious, and may be improved by least-squares techniques. This method has the advantage over the I(θ, ϕ) method that it requires only a small computer and little computer time.