The Law of

Conservation of
Matter
The only thing constant in this world
is change.
 l
ica
em
Ch
ical
Phys
 HOWEVER….
• NO MATTER IS CREATED OR
DESTROYED BY SUCH CHANGES.

• THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF MATTER

REMAINS CONSTANT.
Historically, already the ancient Greeks
proposed the idea that the total amount of
matter in the universe is constant. The
principle of conservation of mass was first
outlined by Mikhail Lomonosov in 1748.
However, the law of conservation of matter
(or the principle of mass/matter conservation)
as a fundamental principle of physics was
discovered in by Antoine Lavoisier in1773.
 The Law of
Conservation of Matter

During a chemical reaction, matter cannot be created

or destroyed

Even though the matter may change form from one

for to another, the same number of atoms exists
before and after the change takes place.
 Since the overall mass of the
matter does not change..

-The mass of the reactants (substance/s

before the reaction occurs) must equal the
mass of the product (substances there
after the reaction takes place.

=
Mass of Mass of
reactants Products
 4Fe + 3O2 = 2Fe2O3
Fe O2
Fe2O3
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Reac

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