Law of Conservation of Mass

Law of Conservation of Mass - Examples, FAQs

Edited By Vishal kumar | Updated on Sep 24, 2024 12:42 PM IST

Law of Conservation of Mass in physics and chemistry:-

In physics and chemistry, law of conservation of mass, also called the principle of mass conservation, states that for any system close to all transfers of matter along with energy, mass of system must remain constant over time, as mass cannot change and thus quantity cannot be added or removed.

State the law of Conservation of Mass.

The law of mass conservation asserts that

“In an isolated system, mass cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transformed from one form to another.”

For a low-energy thermodynamic process, the mass of the reactants must equal the mass of the products, according to the law of conservation of mass.

Mass conservation is thought to be defined by a few assumptions from classical mechanics. With the help of quantum mechanics and special relativity, the law of conservation of mass was later changed to say that energy and mass are one conserved quantity. The law of conservation of mass was discovered by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier in 1789

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Law of Conservation of Mass in physics and chemistry:-
State the law of Conservation of Mass.
Who proposed the law of Conservation of Mass?
The Mass Conservation Law Examples-

Law of Conservation of Mass - Examples, FAQs

Who proposed the law of Conservation of Mass?

When Antoine Lavoisier found that mass is never created nor destroyed in chemical reactions in 1789, he established the Law of Conservation of Mass. Lavoisier's discovery transformed science and laid the groundwork for modern chemistry.

Lavoisier law:-

A careful experimenter named Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier revolutionised chemistry. Among his many contributions, he established the rule of conservation of mass, discovered that combustion and respiration are driven by chemical interactions with what he called "oxygen," and contributed to the systematisation of chemical nomenclature.

The Law of Conservation of Mass was established in 1789 when Antoine Lavoisier discovered that mass is neither generated nor destroyed in chemical interactions. In other words, the mass of any one element at the start of a reaction will be the same as the mass of that element at the end.

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Mass is neither created nor destroyed:-

Although mass cannot be generated, it can be destroyed when subjected to severe pressures. During a chemical reaction, mass cannot be conserved; a little amount of mass is constantly lost. A closed system's mass can't fluctuate over time; it can't be made or destroyed. When energy is introduced into a system, it has the potential to destroy mass.

Energy is neither created nor destroyed:-

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, according to the rule of conservation of energy. It can only be transferred from one type of energy to another. Unless energy is added from the outside, a system always possesses the same quantity of energy.

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The Mass Conservation Law Examples-

Combustion process: Because wood burning contains oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapour, and ashes, it is a mass conservation process.
To make one molecule of H₂O (water) with a molecular weight of 10, hydrogen with a molecular weight of 2 is combined with oxygen with a weight of 8 preserving mass.

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The law of conservation of matter:-

Matter cannot be created or destroyed, according to the Law of Conservation of Matter. Substances can change form during a physical change, but the total mass remains the same.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why doesn't mass change during chemical reactions?

Atoms are neither generated nor destroyed during a chemical reaction. To generate products, the atoms of the reactants are simply rearranged. As a result, in a chemical reaction, there is no change in mass.

2. What is the ultimate source of energy if it cannot be created or destroyed?

The Big Bang is the ultimate source of energy in our current cosmos. At the beginning of time, all of the energy was created, and as the cosmos expanded, numerous stages of particulate matter were produced from that energy.By the time of the Modern Universe, energy had been dispersed as mass, kinetic energy, chemical energy in lumps of matter, or radiant energy. Galaxies and stars inside them are used to classify the masses. The sun is one of those stars, and it received its energy from the Big Bang.

3. What is a violation of the law of mass conservation?

Because mass is changed into energy or vice versa, nuclear reactions appear to violate both the Laws of Conservation of Mass and Energy.

4. What is the difference between the mass conservation law and the energy conservation law?

The law of conservation of mass holds that no mass is generated or lost during a chemical process. The mass of a carbon atom does not change as it transitions from a solid to a gas. The law of conservation of energy, on the other hand, maintains that energy cannot be created or destroyed.