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Simulation Activity: Chemical Reactions and Stoichiometry Mark as Favorite (101 Favorites)

ACTIVITY in Balancing Equations, Stoichiometry, Classification of Reactions. Last updated March 30, 2026.

Summary

In this activity, students will challenge their knowledge of classification of reaction types, balancing equations, and solving stoichiometry problems using an online simulation to take a short quiz. They will then have the opportunity to apply their knowledge to more complex questions on the student handout.

Grade Level

High School

NGSS Alignment

This activity will help prepare your students to meet the performance expectations in the following standards:

  • HS-PS1-7: Use mathematical representation to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.
  • Scientific and Engineering Practices:
    • Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Objectives

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

  • Classify a reaction as either: synthesis, decomposition, single replacement, double replacement or combustion, based on its chemical equation.
  • Balance a chemical equation using whole number coefficients.
  • Use the appropriate mole ratio from a balanced equation to solve a stoichiometric problem.

Chemistry Topics

This activity supports students’ understanding of:

  • Chemical Reactions
  • Stoichiometry
  • Classification of Reactions
  • Balancing Equations

Time

Teacher Preparation: minimal

Lesson: 20-30 minutes

Materials

Safety

  • No specific safety precautions need to be observed for this activity.

Teacher Notes

  • The simulation can be found at the following link (note that students can access the simulation without an AACT login):
  • Prior to using this simulation, students should be familiar with types of chemical reactions, how to balance an equation, and how to solve a stoichiometry problem. It would be beneficial for students to use this simulation as a review tool for a unit test or exam.
  • Each quiz is made up of 5 questions, each containing 3 parts. Each part of a question is worth 1 point, for a total of 15 possible points.
  • Each of the quiz questions will follow the same pattern: first classify the reaction type, then balance the equation, and finally solve a stoichiometry problem based on the balanced equation.
  • The order of 5 questions will be random, so students should not have the same order of questions as a peer.
  • There are 10 possible chemical equations, each with 2 possible stoichiometry questions for a total of 20 different calculations that could appear in the quiz, so students can complete the quiz multiple times without being presented with the same problems. Accepted answers for each of the possible questions are included in the answer key, though students will only see 5 of them at a time.
  • The types of chemical reactions presented in the quiz can be categorized as one of the following reaction types: synthesis, decomposition, single replacement, double replacement, or combustion.
  • The conversions required in the stoichiometry problems in this quiz vary between questions. Students will see some combination of mole-mole, mole-gram, and mole-particle conversions.
  • Students can use this simulation without a handout, as the simulation interface provides instructions and instant feedback for both multiple choice and free-response calculation questions. However, the provided handout provides space to show their calculations for the questions in the simulation, as well as some more advance challenge questions to complete on paper after they finish the simulation. The challenge questions can be omitted, or adapted to be more or less challenging, as desired.
  • Related classroom resources from the AACT Library that may be used to further teach this topic:


For the Student

Lesson

Access the simulation at https://teachchemistry.org/stoichiometry. Work through the quiz in the simulation and record your answers below. Show all work for calculations.

  1. Balanced Reaction 1:
    Classification:
    Stoichiometry calculation:

  2. Balanced Reaction 2:
    Classification:
    Stoichiometry calculation:

  3. Balanced Reaction 3:
    Classification:
    Stoichiometry calculation:

  4. Balanced Reaction 4:
    Classification:
    Stoichiometry calculation:

  5. Balanced Reaction 5:
    Classification:
    Stoichiometry calculation:


Challenge Yourself

Complete the questions below after finishing the simulation.

Part 1: Match each general equation on the left with the correct equation type on the right. Equation types can be used more than once. For equations that do not have a clear category, select “f. None of the above.”

  1. ___ AB + CD → AD + CB
  2. ___ AB → A + B
  3. ___ AB2 + CD → ABC + B + D
  4. ___ A + B → AB
  5. ___ CxHy + O2 → CO + H2O
  6. ___ A2B + C + D → ABC + AD
  7. ___ A + BC → ABC
  8. ___ CxHy + O2 → CO2 + H2O
  9. ___ AB + C → AC + B
  10. ___ ABC → AC +B
  1. Synthesis
  2. Decomposition
  3. Single Replacement
  4. Double Replacement
  5. Combustion
  6. None of the above

Part 2: Balance the following chemical equations:

  1. ___NH3 + ___O2 → ___NO + ___H2O
  2. ___FeS2 + ___O2 → ___Fe2O3 + ___SO2
  3. ___Pb(NO3)2 → ___PbO + ___NO2 + ___O2
  4. ___Ca3(PO4)2 + ___SiO2 + ___C → ___CaSiO3 + ___P4 + ___CO
  5. ___Cu + ___HNO3 → ___Cu(NO3)2 + ___H2O + ___NO

Part 3: Complete the following calculation based on the reaction below. Use a periodic table to determine molar masses as necessary. Assume the reaction takes place at standard temperature and pressure (STP), where 1 mole of a gas occupies a volume of 22.4 L.

Zn (s) + 2HCl (aq) → H2 (g) + ZnCl2 (aq)

  1. A chemist mixes 50.0 mL of HCl (aq) with an excess of solid zinc and they react according to the reaction above. The concentration of the HCl solution is 0.650 moles per liter of solution. How many milliliters of gas is produced by this reaction?