Question

Which statement MOST accurately describes the mass of the reactants compared to the mass of the products?

a) The mass of the reactants is the same as the mass of the products.
b) The products have a greater mass because matter was created during the reaction.
c) The reactants have a greater mass because some of the mass was converted to heat.
d) The reactants have a greater mass because some matter was destroyed by the reaction.

Answer 1

The correct statement is that the mass of the reactants is the same as the mass of the products, in accordance with the law of conservation of mass.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that MOST accurately describes the mass of reactants compared to the mass of products in a chemical reaction is: a) The mass of the reactants is the same as the mass of the products. This observation is in agreement with the law of conservation of mass, which states that in a chemical reaction, the total mass of the products must be equal to the total mass of the reactants.

The law underlines that matter, and thus mass, cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction, only transformed from one set of substances (the reactants) to another set (the products). Therefore, option a) is correct, and options b), c), and d) are incorrect because they imply that mass can be created or destroyed, which is not consistent with the law of conservation of mass.