A chemical equation is a symbolic representation of a chemical reaction where the reactants are written on the left side of an arrow and the products on the right. There are several terms that can be used as synonyms for chemical equation, including reaction equation, molecular equation, and balanced equation. A reaction equation denotes the chemical reaction that is taking place, while a molecular equation represents the reactants and products in their molecular or ionic form. A balanced equation, on the other hand, is a reaction equation that is balanced in terms of the number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation. All of these terms refer to the same essential concept in chemistry.