Question

10. According to the law of conservation of mass, how does the mass of the products in a chemical reaction compare to the mass of the reactants?

Answer 1

Answer: The mass of the reactants is always equal to the mass of the products.

Step-by-step explanation:

Law of conservation of mass states that mass can neither be formed nor be destroyed but it can only be transformed from one form to another. This law is followed by all the balanced chemical reactions.

This law simply means that the total mass on the reactant side is always equal to the total mass on the product side.

For example: Formation of water from hydrogen and oxygen gas.

`2H_2(g)+O_2(g)\rightarrow 2H_2O(l)`

Total mass on the reactant side =
`[2(1* 2)+(16* 2)]=36g/mol`

Total mass on the product side =
`[2((2* 1)+16)]=36g/mol`

As, the total mass on the reactant side is equal to the total mass on the product side. Hence, this equation follows law of conservation of mass.