Question

A chemistry company is hired to produce sodium chloride (NaCl) using the following equation: Na (s) + HCl (aq) -> NaCl (aq) + H2 (g) The team of chemists recorded the following data. Develop a plan the company can use to test and justify that a chemical reaction has occurred, producing NaCl. Include evidence from the equation and table.

Answer 1

The company can obtain the masses of the reactants and sum it up and compare it to the mass of the product according the law of the conservation of mass.

The mass of a closed system stays constant over time, independent of the processes taking place inside the system, according to the law of conservation of mass, a fundamental tenet of chemistry. Stated differently, the total mass of the products and reactants in a chemical reaction equals one another.

Mass of sodium = 14.25 g

Mass of HCl solution = 9.50 g

Total mass of the products = 14.25 g + 9.50 g

= 23.75 g

Hence a chemical reaction has occurred by the law of conservation of mass.