Is Chemistry Really That Hard? A Tutor’s Take on 6 Common Challenges

If you've ever heard a student say, “Chemistry is impossible,” you're not alone. In fact, in a recent survey by the American Chemical Society, over 52% of high school students ranked chemistry as the hardest science subject, above biology and even physics. But is chemistry really that hard? And more importantly, why do so many students struggle with it?

At Tutorition, we hear this question all the time. And the answer isn’t as simple as “yes” or “no.” Chemistry isn’t inherently impossible—it just requires a different kind of thinking. With the right approach and support, even the most overwhelmed students can learn to not only understand chemistry but actually enjoy it.

Think chemistry is too hard? These 6 reasons explain why and how online chemistry tutoring can change everything.

1. Chemistry Is About Things You Can’t See

Here’s a reality check: chemistry happens at the atomic and molecular level, far beyond what the naked eye can see. While students can see a frog in biology or feel gravity in physics, chemistry is about particles too small to observe, even under a standard microscope.

Try explaining molecular bonding or electron configurations to a student who’s never seen a molecule—no wonder they get frustrated.

Real-life example: Did you know that a single grain of salt contains over 1.2 quintillion sodium and chloride ions? That’s 18 zeros! Understanding how they bond—without ever seeing them—is no easy task.

How Online Chemistry Tutors Help:

Chemistry tutors use digital whiteboards, diagrams, and 3D molecule simulators to make the invisible visible. Students learn through engaging visualizations and real-world analogies, helping them connect abstract ideas to everyday life.

2. Chemistry Requires Multiple Brain Skills at Once

Some students are great at memorizing facts. Others are better with numbers and solving problems. But chemistry? It asks you to do both—sometimes at the same time.

That’s what makes it so tricky. To do well in chemistry, you need to remember things like atomic numbers and chemical properties and understand how to use formulas, solve equations, and spot patterns in the periodic table. It’s like taking biology, physics, and math—all rolled into one science subject.

For many students, this mix can feel overwhelming, especially if they’ve only ever needed to focus on one learning style in the past.

Fact: A Stanford study found that students who learned using a mix of visuals, logic, and words (called “multi-modal learning”) did 27% better in chemistry than those who just read textbooks. Turns out, how you learn is just as important as what you’re learning.

Helpful Insight: Many students benefit from working with a science tutor who can explain concepts in multiple ways. Whether it's a teacher, a peer, or a chemistry tutor online, learning with support makes it easier to understand and apply tough topics.

3. Chemistry Concepts Build on Each Other

One of the hardest things about chemistry is that everything connects. If you miss an early concept—like how to write a chemical formula—it can make the next few topics feel like a foreign language. Suddenly, balancing equations or doing stoichiometry becomes confusing because the foundation wasn’t solid.

In many subjects, you can memorize a few facts, pass the test, and move on. But in chemistry, each new chapter depends on the last one. It’s like stacking blocks—if the bottom ones aren’t steady, the whole tower wobbles.

Real talk: A report from the National Center for Education Statistics found that about 42% of students fall behind in chemistry simply because they didn’t fully understand something early on, and never had a chance to catch up.

That’s why it’s so important to slow down, ask questions, and really get each step before moving forward. Once the basics make sense, the rest of chemistry becomes way easier to handle.

How Online Tutoring Helps Students Catch Up

When a student falls behind in chemistry, it’s not always easy to recover, especially in a fast-moving classroom where there's little time to revisit earlier topics. Many students are also hesitant to ask questions in front of others, even when they’re confused.

That’s where online tutoring can make a real difference. With one-on-one attention, students can go back to the basics, review tough concepts at their own pace, and ask as many questions as they need, without any pressure. Online tutoring creates a comfortable space where learning feels more personal, and catching up feels possible.

4. The Math in Chemistry Is a Big Barrier

Math is already a struggle for many students. So when chemistry starts throwing in equations, unit conversions, and complex word problems, it can feel like way too much at once.

Even though most of the math in high school chemistry is just algebra, it’s used in ways that feel unfamiliar. You’re suddenly balancing chemical equations, converting grams to moles, or figuring out how much product a reaction will make. And the problems are often buried in long paragraphs, which adds a whole other layer of confusion.

Did you know? Balancing a chemical equation is basically the same as solving a system of equations. If you haven’t mastered proportional thinking, it’s easy to feel completely stuck.

How We Solve It:

So, how do students get past this? One of the most helpful strategies is to treat chemistry math like a puzzle. Instead of panicking, students can learn to break down each question into small, clear steps:

• What information is given?
  
  

• What do I need to find?
  
  

• Which formula makes sense here?

When students approach problems this way, chemistry stops being a guessing game and starts making logical sense. And once they understand the “why” behind the numbers, not just how to plug them in, they gain real confidence that lasts beyond the test.

5. Chemistry Has Too Many Exceptions

There’s a well-known joke among chemistry students: “Chemistry would be easy… if the rules actually stayed the same.”

Unlike math, where formulas work the same way every time, chemistry is full of exceptions. You might learn a rule one day, only to find out there are three exceptions to it the next.

For example:

You’ll learn that most chloride salts dissolve in water. Great! But then you find out:

Chlorides are insoluble when combined with silver, lead, or mercury ions.

That means:
AgCl (s) ⇌ Ag⁺ (aq) + Cl⁻ (aq)
This doesn’t dissolve well—AgCl forms a solid white precipitate in water.

Or take acetate ions (C₂H₃O₂⁻). They're usually soluble, unless paired with hydrogen ions to form acetic acid (CH₃COOH), which doesn’t fully dissolve.

H⁺ (aq) + C₂H₃O₂⁻ (aq) ⇌ CH₃COOH (aq)
Acetic acid is a weak acid because it only partially breaks apart into ions when mixed with water.

So now you’re not just memorizing the rule—you’re memorizing the rule and all the times it doesn’t apply.

In basic chemistry, students mostly deal with general rules. But in advanced courses (like AP, IB, or college chemistry), exceptions are everywhere:

• Lewis structures include exceptions for expanded octets.
  
  

• Ionization energy trends shift due to full and half-filled orbitals.
  
  

• Even electron configurations break expected patterns.
  
  

Rather than memorizing every exception, students learn best by approaching each one logically, asking why it behaves differently and applying reasoning instead of rote learning.

Tip: In chemistry, applying patterns and logic often works better than memorizing endless lists.

Once students get comfortable with thinking critically, even the weird exceptions start to make sense, and chemistry becomes less of a trick question and more of a mental challenge.

6. Learning Chemistry is Challenging

Chemistry is already a tough subject, and learning it online can make things even harder.

In a regular classroom, students do hands-on experiments, watch live demos, and get real-time help from teachers. But in an online setting, all of that becomes more complicated. Students often have to figure things out on their own, like how to draw chemical equations using a keyboard, or how to balance reactions without being able to just write them out quickly by hand.

Chemistry is a subject that works best when students can see and do things: draw molecules, build models, mix substances, or simply jot down equations with a pencil. But online, that natural, hands-on flow is interrupted. Instead, students find themselves switching between tabs, squinting at long questions, and struggling to format their answers properly in digital boxes.

On top of that, without a teacher right there to explain things or demonstrate a tricky concept, it’s easy to feel lost or stuck.

Read full blog here: https://tutorition.com/blog/why-is-chemistry-so-hard-6-real-reasons-students-struggle