diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60de0f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15)
+project(Atoms VERSION 1.0 LANGUAGES CXX)
+
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+
+# required packages
+find_package(OpenGL REQUIRED)
+find_package(GLEW REQUIRED)
+find_package(glfw3 REQUIRED)
+find_package(glm REQUIRED)
+
+set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin)
+
+add_executable(atom_2d src/wave_atom_2d.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(atom_2d
+    OpenGL::GL
+    GLEW::GLEW
+    glfw
+    glm::glm
+)
+
+add_executable(atom_realtime src/atom_realtime.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(atom_realtime
+    OpenGL::GL
+    GLEW::GLEW
+    glfw
+    glm::glm
+)
+
+add_executable(atom_raytracer src/atom_raytracer.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(atom_raytracer
+    OpenGL::GL
+    GLEW::GLEW
+    glfw
+    glm::glm
+)
+
+add_executable(atom src/atom.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(atom
+    OpenGL::GL
+    GLEW::GLEW
+    glfw
+    glm::glm
+)
+
+message(STATUS "C++ Standard: ${CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD}")
+message(STATUS "Build type: ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
+message(STATUS "Output directory: ${CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}")
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2fa653b..367ec26 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,15 +42,24 @@ What the model does:
 
 ### Alternative: Debian/Ubuntu apt workaround
 
-If you don't want to use vcpkg, or you just need a quick way to install the native development packages on Debian/Ubuntu, install these packages and then run the normal CMake steps above:
+If you don't want to use vcpkg, or you just need a quick way to install the native development packages on Debian/Ubuntu, install these packages and build:
 
 ```bash
 sudo apt update
 sudo apt install build-essential cmake \
 	libglew-dev libglfw3-dev libglm-dev libgl1-mesa-dev
 ```
+This provides the GLEW, GLFW, GLM and OpenGL libraries so `find_package(...)` calls in `CMakeLists.txt` can locate the libraries without vcpkg.
+
+Then run:
+```
+cmake -B build -S .
+cmake --build build
+
+# run executables (located in build/bin/) e.g.:
+./build/bin/atom_realtime
+```
 
-This provides the GLEW, GLFW, GLM and OpenGL development files so `find_package(...)` calls in `CMakeLists.txt` can locate the libraries. After installing, run the `cmake -B build -S .` and `cmake --build build` commands as shown in the Build Instructions.
 
 ## **How the code works:**
 the 2D bohr model works is in atom.cpp, the raytracer and realtime models are right beside