A student combines two liquids in a beaker. She observes them that the mass of the combine liquid is less than the mass of the two separate liquids. The student claims that this observation shows that matter is not conserved in chemical reactions which statement explains why the students claim is incorrect
The student's claim is incorrect because the mass of the two separate liquids should be equal to the mass of the combined liquid, according to the Law of Conservation of Mass. This law states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction, only rearranged. Therefore, the total mass of the reactants should be equal to the total mass of the products. The discrepancy in mass observed by the student could be due to factors such as incomplete mixing, evaporation of some of the liquid, or measurement errors.
