Final answer:
The law of conservation of mass dictates that in a chemical reaction, the mass of the reactants is always equal to the mass of the products. Therefore, the answer is D - The masses are always equal.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the law of conservation of mass, the mass of the products in a chemical reaction compares to the mass of the reactants by being equal. This fundamental principle states that in any given chemical reaction, the total mass of the reactants must be the same as the total mass of the products. In other words, during a chemical reaction, mass is neither created nor destroyed, but it is conserved.
The correct answer to your question is D - The masses are always equal. This is because the atoms are simply rearranged during chemical reactions, and since the number of each type of atom is conserved, the total mass remains unchanged.