[BSingh94]

I'm having trouble in my university lab reports where I have to calculate yields and the sort. The problem is that I feel like i'm always missing information and I have no idea on how to acquire this information.
For example in my labs last week I was forming Ni(Et2en)2(NCS)2 by combining ethanol solutions of Ni(NO3)2.6H20 and KSCN. Et2en was added after

So I know to start the equation it will be like this

Ni(NO3)2.6H20 + KSCN  Ni(NCS)2 +KNO3 + 6H20
(not balanced)

But even this I can only do because the product was given to me - I know I was creating Ni(Et2en)2(NCS)2 so it makes sense that before the addition of Et2en I would have Ni(NCS)2.

After google searches however, I find that the correct product is Ni(NCS2).4H20 - how am i supposed to know/find that out?

How do you figure out how these things work? Often times in labs i am asked to make product X from starting materials A,B and C and then figure out how exactly that happens when it comes to equations. I have no idea how to approach this - I don't know where to start to figure out how one material X reacts with Y and result in googling Ni(NO3)2 + KSCN to see if someone has already done it.

Chemistry so far (my 3rd year now) has been so confusing/unexplained and extremely difficult to understand as opposed to physics which seems to follow a more linear path to comprehension.

[AWK]

Ni(NCS2).4H20

Forget about water in Ni(SCN)₂ since nickel rodanide(thiocyanate) is soluble in ethanol. This water should be important for stoichiometric calculations, when starting from isolated rodanide.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050186/