Final answer:
Elements in a compound do not remain in their original form; they are reorganized during chemical reactions to form new compounds, with the atoms neither being created nor destroyed. Atoms can separate and recombine but their core identity remains the same, conserving the number of atoms throughout the reaction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The elements that are a part of a compound do not remain in their original form. Instead, they combine to form compounds, in which atoms from the combining elements are joined by chemical bonds. For example, in the compound glucose, which is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, these elements always occur in the same fixed ratio of six carbon atoms, six oxygen atoms, and twelve hydrogen atoms.
The atoms in a compound can go back to atoms, meaning they can separate and recombine during a chemical reaction to create new substances. However, the atoms are neither created nor destroyed in the reaction. They are simply reorganized into different arrangements, respecting the law of conservation of mass.
When a chemical reaction occurs, while compounds may break apart and new compounds may form, the atoms in the reactants are never lost. They are the same atoms found in the products, just reorganized. Pure matter, including elements and compounds, has a fixed proportion of atoms of each element, and the constituent elements in a compound can only be separated by breaking and making chemical bonds through chemical reactions.