Final answer:
The law of conservation of mass states that the total mass of the products must be equal to the total mass of the reactants in a chemical reaction. Coefficients in a chemical equation represent the number of molecules or units of a substance involved in the reaction, allowing us to balance the equation and ensure that the number of atoms of each element remains the same on both sides. This demonstrates the application of the law of conservation of mass.
Step-by-step explanation:
The law of conservation of mass states that in a chemical reaction, the total mass of the products must be equal to the total mass of the reactants.
This is where coefficients in a chemical equation come into play. Coefficients represent the number of molecules or units of a substance involved in a reaction. By adjusting the coefficients, you can ensure that the number of atoms of each element remains the same before and after the reaction, thus satisfying the law of conservation of mass.
For example, consider the balanced equation for the reaction of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) to produce water (H2O):
2H2 + O2 → 2H2O
In this equation, the coefficients 2 before H2 and H2O indicate that 2 molecules of hydrogen react with 1 molecule of oxygen to produce 2 molecules of water. By balancing the equation in this way, we ensure that the same number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms are present on both sides of the equation, satisfying the law of conservation of mass.