A displayed formula is a map: it shows which atoms are joined to which. It is not a picture of the molecule's
shape.
Methane is usually drawn as a flat cross. That drawing suggests the bonds are 90° apart, all lying flat on the
page. Real methane is not flat at all.
Drag the model to turn it. Pinch to zoom, or use the buttons.
Methane drawn as a displayed formula. The flat cross suggests 90° between bonds, but the real molecule is not flat: open the 3D model to turn it around.
To see shapes, chemists use models. Neither kind is a photograph.
A ball-and-stick model shows each atom as a ball and each bond as a stick. It makes the angles
between bonds easy to see, but it makes the atoms look far apart, when really they overlap.
A space-filling model shows how much room each atom takes up. It is closer to the real outline
of the molecule, but it hides the bonds.
Both use the same colours: carbon grey, hydrogen white, oxygen red and nitrogen blue.
Methane as a ball-and-stick model (left) and a space-filling model (right). In the space-filling model the hydrogen atoms sink deep into the carbon atom, and the fourth one hides behind it: turn the 3D model above to see all four.