For any chemical change total mass of active reactants are
always equal to the mass of the product formed. It is a derivation of Dalton’s
atomic theory ‘atoms neither created nor destroyed’.
Total masses of reactants =
Total masses of products + Masses of unreacted reactants
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE (1): 5.2 g of CaCO3 when heated
produced 1.99 g of Carbon dioxide and the residue (CaO) left behind weighs
3.2g. Show that these results illustrate the law of conservation of mass.
SOLUTION: Weight of CaCO3 taken = 5.2 g
Total weight of the products (CaO +CO3) =
3.20+ 1.99 = 5.19 g
Difference between the wt. of the reactant and the total
wt. of the products
= 5.20 – 5.19 =0.01 g.
This small difference may be due to experimental error.
Thus law of conservation of mass holds good within
experimental errors.
Limitation of Law of conservation of mass: Nuclear reactions do not follow the law of conservation
of mass because some of the mass of reactants is converted into energy
according to Einstein equation E=mc2
where c is the velocity of light.
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