Question

​ Suppose you are camping outside and you are really cold. You gather about 500 kg of wood to start a camp fire for the night. In the morning, you put out the flame and notice that most of the wood you gathered has turned to ash. Is the mass of the ash on the ground equal to the mass of the wood you gathered the night before? Explain your reasoning in at least 2 sentences. (Hint: Think about the mass of boiling water) ​

Answer 1

Dear Student
No the mass of the ash is not equal to the mass of the wood as during combustion some of the mass of the wood will not be present there. It is similar to that of mass of boiling water whose mass is less than that of liquids mass. But if we store all the material after the combustion and then weight the mass will be the same similar for boiling water. In reality it is not possible.


Regards