Many learners seem to find chemistry a very difficult subject and it is common for them to form misconceptions. This is not so surprising in view of the diverse range of abstract theoretical models taught in chemistry classes. Research into learners’ chemical thinking offers insights that can help teachers think about how best to present chemical concepts. Students hope that chemistry will be exciting but the complexity of trying to understand explanations, and the frequent revision of those explanations, can be confusing and disheartening. This can compromise understanding and motivation to progress to further study and chemistry-related employment.