ICE Tables: Introduction

ICE Tables are a tool for organizing what is known and unknown in a stoichiometry or equilibrium problem. The ICE table consists of several parts.

Move your mouse over the parts of the ICE table below to see what each component represents.

At the top of the table goes the balanced chemical equation for the chemical reaction being studied. Each reactant or product has a column in the table.

The first row in the table is the I or Initial conditions. Each cell entry in the I row represents an initial amount (moles, concentration, or pressure) of a reactant or product.

The second row in the table is the C or Change in conditions row. Each cell entry in the C row represents the change in the amount of a reactant or product. Each cell entry should have a sign (+ or -) to represent whether the substance increases or decreases in amount.

The final row is the E or Ending amount. Each entry in the E row is the sum of the amounts entered above it in the I and C rows.

ICE Tables: Introduction