Question

When magnesium hydroxide reacts with nitric acid, it produces magnesium nitrate and water.

Mg(OH)2+2HNO3→Mg(NO3)2+2H2O

In one to two sentences, explain how this reaction demonstrates that matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.

(2 points)

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

This reaction demonstrates that matter is neither created nor destroyed because the total number of atoms of magnesium, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen remains the same on both sides of the equation. Only the arrangement of the atoms changes, resulting in the formation of different compounds.