Question

What are chemical reactions according to the Law of conservation of mass?

Answer 1

Law of conservation of mass:

• The law of conservation of mass dates from Antoine Lavoisier's 1789 discovery that mass can neither be created nor be destroyed in chemical reactions.
• In other words, the mass of any element at the beginning of a reaction will equal the mass of that element at the end of the reaction.

Example: Reaction between Carbon and oxygen to produce carbon dioxide

• 12 g of carbon reacts with 32 g of oxygen which in turn produces 44 g of carbon dioxide.

$\underset{\mathrm{Carbon}}{\mathrm{C}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Oxygen}}{{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$