Chemistry: Balancing Equations and Remembering Reactions
Head Mark Coaching7 October 2026 2 min read
Practical ways to balance equations quickly, remember reactions and avoid the small slips that lose marks in Chemistry.
Chemistry rewards students who practise a little every day. Many marks come from a few skills that you can train.
Balancing chemical equations
- Write the correct formulas first. Never change a formula to balance an equation. Only change the numbers in front.
- Count the atoms of each element on both sides.
- Balance the element that appears in the fewest places first, and leave hydrogen and oxygen for last.
- Check again that every element matches on both sides.
Practise ten equations a day for a week and it becomes fast.
Remember reactions with a table
Make a revision table with three columns: reactants, products, conditions or observations. Write only the important reactions of each chapter. Look at it often and cover one column to test yourself.
Memorising symbols, valencies and the periodic table
- Write the first 20 elements with their symbols and valencies on one page and read it daily.
- Use small memory phrases for groups and trends, and make up your own so they stick.
Numerical problems
For moles, concentration and gas laws, follow the same steps as in Physics: list what is given, write the formula, substitute with units, and state the answer with its unit.
Practical-based questions
Learn the apparatus, the steps and the colour changes or observations for each practical. Examiners like clear, short answers in the order things happen.
Common slips
- Wrong charge on an ion.
- Forgetting to balance the equation after writing the products.
- Mixing up oxidation and reduction.
- Writing the observation but not the conclusion.
Revise short sections often instead of long ones rarely, and test yourself with past papers.