Final answer:
After balancing the provided chemical equation as 4Al + 3O₂ → 2Al₂O₃, we find that there are 6 atoms of oxygen in the products, which is consistent with the law of conservation of mass.
Step-by-step explanation:
The provided chemical reaction Al + O₂ → Al₂O₃ does not appear to be balanced. According to the law of conservation of mass, a balanced chemical equation will have the same number of atoms of each element in the reactants as in the products. In order to determine how many atoms of oxygen exist in the products, we must first balance the equation. The balanced equation is 4Al + 3O₂ → 2Al₂O₃. Now we can see that there are 3 molecules of O₂ as reactants, with each O₂ molecule containing 2 atoms of oxygen, resulting in a total of 6 atoms of oxygen (3 molecules × 2 atoms/molecule = 6 atoms). Each molecule of Al₂O₃ contains 3 atoms of oxygen, and since there are 2 molecules of Al₂O₃ in the product, we have a total of 6 atoms of oxygen in the products as well (2 molecules × 3 atoms/molecule = 6 atoms). This satisfies the law of conservation of matter.