Staggered conformation

chemical conformation of an ethane-like moiety

In organic chemistry, a staggered conformation is a way that a molecule like ethane can line up its parts. In a staggered conformation, each part is as far away from the others as possible, making an equal and symmetrical diagram. This means the torsion angles are 60°.

A staggered conformation image right in a Newman projection
An eclipsed conformation