How to study Chemistry in ICSE Class 10
By T S Sudhir on 04 Jun 2025
Tags: sws interview, Vijaykumar Sir, ICSE Class 10 Chemistry
If you have just been promoted to Class 10, what should be your study approach to Chemistry. SWS spoke Vijaykumar Prabhakaran Sir, senior Chemistry faculty based in Chennai. He is also the author of a book on Chemistry for ICSE students.
SWS : The ICSE academic year has just begun and it is summer vacation time for most students. How do you suggest students should use this time to study Chemistry in the holidays?
Vijaykumar Sir : I will speak as a parent first, summer vacation is the time for everyone to relax, rejuvenate and then restart. So first I want my kids to take a break for sometime, go for a vacation, have fun and come back home with a relaxed mindset. It is probably in the last ten days that I wish they must open their textbooks.
With respect to Chemistry, any ICSE student must be thorough with the chemical formulas because learning how to write a chemical formula solves 50 percent problems. They have to learn the valencies of cation and anion, do criss-cross method and learn to write the formulas of salts and bases. Additionally there are some important compounds, whose formula must be memorised. Gases and commonly used acids come under this category. Once the students are thorough with the formulae, they should revise the second chapter of class 9 which is about chemical reactions. This chapter helps them to write the chemical reactions on their own and finally revise the balancing of chemical equations. Once the student is strong in writing the chemical equations and balancing them, half the Board exam portions are covered. If my student comes back to the class with this preparation, I will be very happy as a teacher.
SWS : The nature of ICSE Class 10 Board papers has changed a lot in the last three years with more emphasis on application, understanding and analysis-based questions. Keeping this in mind, how should the study strategy change for Chemistry?
Vijaykumar Sir : It is actually a challenge for the teachers to set such thinking questions. Earlier teachers were setting direct questions, now we must be trained to set questions which will test the depth of understanding of the student. Students cannot just memorise a few definitions and reactions and sit for the exam.
I will give a few examples. Earlier when a teacher wanted to ask a question about the reaction between sulphur and concentrated nitric acid, the question would be direct. But now the same question will be asked as - Specify the reaction between a yellow colour non-metal and an oxidising agent, the reaction releases a reddish brown fumes. Earlier the student would have just learned the reaction, but now the student must know the nature of each reactant and product in the given reaction and this will increase the depth of knowledge for the students. The teachers must expose them to a variety of such questions, so the innovation, creativity and the depth of knowledge of school teachers will be challenged here.
For this purpose, all teachers are now looking for private publishers to give more such questions. In a nutshell, students have to learn the concepts thoroughly, they cannot learn superficially and the challenge for the teachers is to set such question papers which will test the depth of knowledge of our students.
SWS : In your experience of so many years, which part of Chemistry do students find the most challenging - is it Organic or Inorganic or any other aspect? What would you advise the students?
Vijaykumar Sir : In the Periodic Table chapter, arranging the elements in increasing and decreasing order is challenging. We all think Chemical Bonding is an easy chapter, but many students lose marks in drawing the electron dot structure for the compounds. There is a specific method of drawing these structures and if they do not follow that, they would lose marks.
Finding the correct method of salt preparation is the difficult part in acids, bases and salts. In analytical chemistry, the second part of learning the chemical reactions is always challenging. In Mole concept, students who generally find math a difficult subject find it hard. For some students, understanding the concepts becomes challenging.
Understanding of electrolysis reactions is always a challenge for ICSE students. Many find it tough to write the balanced chemical equations in the study of compounds.
In practical Chemistry, students lose marks because in many schools, they think it is only a part of practicals and would not be tested in the theory examination. That is not correct. Students must learn the concepts in practical chemistry too.
Finally the most challenging is Organic Chemistry, IUPAC names and remembering the organic reactions. I have found that students of class 10 find Organic Chemistry really hard.
SWS : Thankyou very much for your time and detailed answers.