This study aimed to determine the representation ability of students in learning chemistry. The ability of representation consists of three levels, namely macroscopic level, submicroscopic level, and symbolic level. This study was a descriptive study. The subjects in this study were 53 XI grade students. The study instrument was in the form of a description test compiled based on indicators of representation ability. The results showed that the average score of students’ representation ability at the macroscopic level is 66.94, and is in the good category. The average score of students’ representation ability at the submicroscopic level is 47.17, and is in the medium category. The average score of students’ representation ability at the symbolic level is 64.30, and is in the good category.

This study aimed to determine the effect of animation media in discovery learning model on the students’ representation ability on chemical equilibrium materials. This study was an experimental study using post-test only group design. The study population consisted of 6 classes or 127 students. The sampling technique was done by using purposive random sampling, and 2 classes were chosen consisting of 53 students. Data were collected using a representation ability test which included macroscopic ability, submicroscopic ability, and symbolic ability. By using the inferential analysis of the Mann Whitney test, it was obtained that the significance value for the macroscopic ability was 0.003, the submicroscopic ability was 0,000 and the symbolic ability was 0.041. The significance value is smaller than α = 0.05. Referring to that, it can be seen that there is an influence of animation media in discovery learning model on the students’ representation ability on chemical equilibrium material.