Providing students with computer animations that demonstrate the conceptual nature of chemistry concepts has been helpful in improving students' ability to answer conceptual questions about particulate phenomena (Kelly, Phelps, and Sanger, 2004; Wu, Krajcik, and Soloway, 2001; Sanger, Phelps, and Feinhold, 2000; Burke, Greenbowe and Windschitl, 1998; Williamson and Abraham, 1995). However, investigating how students' change their explanations to reflect their understanding of the concepts before and after viewing animations has not been explored. In this study, eighteen college students enrolled in general chemistry were individually shown two popular textbook animations of salt dissolution after each performed an activity of the same event. An analysis of the data indicated that students incorporated some of the microscopic structural and functional features from the animations into their explanations, and many were able to connect how the microscopic process of dissolution related to the macroscopic disappearance of the salt. Interestingly, when students watched the animations in groups it was found that it helped students to see some aspects of the animation that they were unable to see when they watched the animation alone. In general, students' drawn explanations displayed many features seen in the salt dissolution animations, and the number of overall misconceptions students had prior to viewing the animations decreased substantially after they viewed the animations.