Ionic Equation - GCSE Chemistry Definition

An ionic equation is a way to show a chemical reaction that involves ions in a simple and clear form. In chemistry, reactions in solutions often involve ions. When writing an ionic equation, you only include the particles that change during the reaction, known as the reacting ions, and leave out the spectator ions, which remain unchanged. This helps to focus on the actual chemical change happening in the solution. For instance, in a reaction in which silver nitrate solution reacts with sodium chloride solution to produce silver chloride, the ionic equation would only display the ions that contribute to the solid silver chloride: Ag⁺(aq) + Cl⁻(aq) → AgCl(s).