When doing tuition using an online platform like Zoom or Skype, you often need to put formulas into the chat box or onto an online whiteboard that wasn’t designed for scientific use and doesn’t support constructing superscript and subscript characters. Also, you may need to write out formulas very quickly if your student asks something unexpected. So this is a list of a huge number of formulas for the major GCSE and iGCSE chemistry courses using the Unicode superscript and subscript characters, indexed and ready to go for tuition. (For other countries, it should be suitable for tuition of students up to around age 16.) Covering thirteen pages, sections include: common ions organic chemistry: combustion, alkene hydration, alcohol oxidation acid-base: acids with metals, carbonates, oxides, hydroxides, ammonia reactions common reversible reactions: Haber process, syngas, the Contact process inorganic reactions: thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate, electrolysis (water, sodium chloride, copper sulfate with graphite or copper electrodes), displacement, thermite, metals reacting with oxygen and water, halogen displacement, both with overall and ionic and half-equations) the chemical tests: precipitation, hydroxide tests the chemical reactions of biology: respiration and photosynthesis core maths equations that might be needed in science, such as area of a circle, volume of a sphere, volume of a cylinder etc. some prebuilt unit conversions Versions of important equations are included in multiple forms, such as with or without state symbols, so you can select one that matches the level you’re working at with the student and keep the lesson flowing. I’ve used these formulas for a huge number of paid tuition jobs, and couldn’t do anything without them-they’ve really helped me make things clear to students, keep lessons moving and give a professional impression. Many students have asked me how I make equations appear looking good in the chat of a call, or even asked me for this document to use themselves! The document is an editable rtf and docx file with the equations and all the superscripts and subscripts and some common symbols at the start. You can build your own equations if you need them or edit or reorganise the document to suit your way of working.

Notes and worksheet on series and parallel circuits covering voltage, current and resistance for the Edexcel 9-1 GCSE. There’s a version filled in for revision and a blank worksheet for students to fill in themselves. The notes aim to put all on one page all the rules of potential difference, current and resistance for series and parallel circuits, something students have a lot of trouble managing. In particular, it shows the way that the rules of series and parallel circuits for current and PD are opposite to one another, something also stressed in a “how do I remember all this?” guide at the bottom. A power triangle for Ohm’s law is also included to help students know what calculation to do. These notes should be suitable also for teaching OCR Gateway GCSE physics. Please note that this set of notes isn’t needed for Edexcel international GCSE which doesn’t go as far into the topic.

Revision notes on trigonometry: all the equations with all the rearrangements. Covers trigonometry of a right angle triangle, the sine rule and the cosine rule. Also explains when you can use the sine and cosine rule equations (e.g. that you can work out an angle using the cosine rule when you know all the sides). Suitable for all the GCSE maths specifications.

A-level osmosis required practical notes, targeting courses including AQA 3.2.3 and required practicals 3 and 4 and OCR A 2.1.5. The notes include diagrams on how to plot a graph of the data and some exam technique practice on how to answer questions on getting valid data, and links to good videos. The notes are bullet point style and easy to read. This set of notes is particularly targeted towards revising the practical come exam time and doesn’t include a detailed practical methodology. NOTE: my apologies, the original uploaded version had some words missing explaining the effect of evaporation on water potential, this has now been corrected.

Notes on gas chromatography and GC-MS for the current Edexcel A-level specification. There’s pictures and diagrams, explanation of a calibration curve and links to three top recommended videos in this one-page resource.

Notes on the tests for anions for OCR Gateway GCSE chemistry on a single page. There’s both a full and ionic equation for carbonate, sulfate and halide ion reactions to give students good models. To show the differences in formulas between compounds of metals that form +2 and +1 ions, there’s equations for both sodium and calcium carbonate too. A lot of work went to squeezing everything in clearly! There’s versions of the resource for colour and black and white printing.

I’ve found respiration is one of the most important things for students to get right studying biology. The equations are so important, but many GCSE and even some weaker A-level biology students can’t instantly give them. I explain to students that they’re an instant grade boost. Here’s a worksheet and set of notes on one page on the most common respiration questions. There’s the word equations, a guide through the standard question about how your heart and breathing rate change with exercise, and there’s links to some recommended videos. Versions included for colour and black and white printing. Full mark scheme included with the worksheet. Remembering the equations for respiration is one of the last things I always go over with students just before their exams, because it’s such a morale booster to instantly get full marks on one of these questions. I will never forget what one student told me in 2021: “It came up! Exactly what you said, it came up!” Although this worksheet and set of notes works for students taking any exam board and A-level students who need a recap, it was particularly written with an eye to AQA 9-1 GCSE mark schemes. Questions consulted included: 8461/1H 2021, question 7 8461/1F 2020, question 4 8461/2F 2018, questions 7 and 11 BL2HP 2017, question 5 I’ve got a separate set of notes for Edexcel iGCSE which uses the term “lactate” instead of lactic acid.

Notes on one page covering all the tests for cations for OCR Gateway GCSE chemistry, including the precipitation equations. I’ve also included model equations, both complete and ionic, for the precipitation reactions, with examples for a +2 and +3 ion. Versions included both in colour and in black and white for photocopying.

Poster showing how you divide by a fraction. There’s two case studies, one simple, dividing a fraction by another fraction, and another more complicated, starting from a whole number. Suitable to be printed large on a classroom wall or at small size for students to stick into their exercise book or folder. Suitable for students around KS2 to KS3 and weaker GCSE students. As an advanced point for students doing well, it introduces the idea of reciprocals.

Poster showing all the most common ions students need to know about and their charges, and a reminder that negative ions have gained electrons and positive ions have lost them. Clean modern design, great for GCSE and A-level students for all courses. Most courses don’t have phosphate on the list of ions to know, so I’ve left it off the main list. But in case your course does need it, I’ve added a second version of the sheet with the phosphate ion added. If you like this resource, you might want my exercises working out formulas of ionic chemicals. Update, April 2024: added zinc and some hints about iron(II) vs. iron(III)

Worksheet and worked examples with two intuitive stories of how people could need to use a reciprocal to find a whole quantity when they only know a fraction of it. Could be suitable for KS2, KS3 or advanced KS1 students. There’s versions in poster form, a problem sheet and (probably most useful for students) a version with notes and worksheet merged onto one page. (The answers are 30 minutes and 12 minutes.) To make it approachable for students in a range of countries I have versions where the money is UK pounds, the Euro or dollars-with appropriate Emoji images! Comment if you’d like a version in a different currency, I’ll add it.

Notes on one page covering all the tests for cations for Edexcel iGCSE chemistry, including the precipitation equations, and links to videos of them being done. I’ve also included model equations, both complete and ionic, for the precipitation reactions, with examples for a +2 and +3 ion. Versions included both in colour and in black and white for photocopying.

A lot of students have trouble with the idea that there’s two ways to use a divide sign: when you want to split something up between a group of known size, and when you want to split something up into units of known size but an unknown number of units. So here’s a poster covering that which explains it by telling a happy story. Could look good on a wall of a classroom or to give students to put into their books. Because people have a lot of trouble learning this, this could be useful for KS1, KS2, KS3 and weaker GCSE students who need a bit of help.

Notes and diagrams on epigenetics for the AQA course, starting from some simple analogies to the real world. I also give the core definition AQA have asked for of epigenetics, which isn’t clearly stated in the textbook but came up on a specimen paper. There’s links to tons of YouTube videos explaining how epigenetics works, and a mnemonic for remembering euchromatin and heterochromatin. Length is two very well-filled pages: you could print it double-sided as a resource for students to keep. Could also be useful for students taking OCR as extension material.

Notes on capture mark, release and recapture population estimates, suitable for courses including A-level biology and Edexcel GCSE statistics. Covering one page, the assumptions and the idea of a reciprocal are explained and there’s two model calculations.

Here’s a one-page diagram of reverse percentages, showing and explaining the idea that you have to find the single percentage change that turns into old into new and reverse it. Both % increase and % decline are covered as examples. Suitable for students to glue into their book as an example or for putting as a poster in a classroom.

Five page revision notes on Gibbs free energy, for the OCR A specification. Covers the standard trick questions, graphs against temperature, and includes a range of worked examples, diagrams of the graphs, types of reactions where ΔH and ΔS have different signs and unit conversion examples.

One-page reference giving a case study of how to answer questions on experiment design. Suitable for GCSE and A-level students. The case study is testing catalase-catalysed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide at different temperatures. This set of notes is oriented towards exam technique and how to answer multi-mark questions on this kind of topic: the need to define and set up an independent variable, to measure a dependent variable, define some control variables, and maybe plot the data and mention some safety precautions. I specifically mention that you don’t need to give too many control variables-students often think they can get more marks listing dozens.

Graphic poster listing all the products of combustion and harms they cause. Suitable for all GCSE and A-level courses. Colour and black and white versions included.

Flow diagram showing the menstrual cycle on one page, suitable for OCR Gateway GCSE biology. Clean modern design, easy to follow. Explains roles of follicle stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, oestrogen and progesterone, the pituitary gland and ovaries, as well as the hormonal contraception methods. Two versions are included. One includes details of contraception methods, one doesn’t to give you a version with less text. This version of these notes is designed for OCR Gateway GCSE biology. I have an alternative version of this diagram for the AQA and Edexcel courses (amongst others) which contains some extra content, including more details about progesterone.