Topic 3a: Amounts of Substances

Sunday 12th of April 2020

3.1.3) Conservation of Mass

Mass Conservation in Chemical Reactions

During chemical reactions the elements involved can’t be created or destroyed. There
has to be the same amount of each element on both sides of the reaction. This is
summarised by the law of conservation of mass.

Conservation of Mass and Mr

One the two sides of the reaction both the total masses and the total relative atomic
masses for everything on either side of the equation will be equal.

Calculating Reacting Masses

You can use the idea of conservation of mass to work out the mass of individual
reactants and products in a reaction. In 6g of Magnesium reacts with 4g of Oxygen it
will make 10g of Magnesium Oxide.

Reactions where the Mass Seems to Increase

Sometimes during the mass can be seem to increase however in reality the mass really
stays the same. When this happens it’s mainly due to one of the reactants being a gas.
This is as when a reactant is a gas you can’t measure it however; during the reaction it
can change to a liquid or a solid. This means that you are now able to measure it.

Reactions where the Mass Seems to Decrease

Sometimes during the mass can be seem to decrease however in reality the mass really
stays the same. When this happens it’s mainly due to one of the products being a gas.
This is as when a reactant is a solid or a liquid you can measure it however, if during the
reaction it changes to a gas you can measure it at the end of the reaction.