1. What does the law of conservation of matter state?
2. Explain why the chemical equation below does not demonstrate the law of conservation of matter. There are two reasons why the equation does not demonstrate the law of conservation of matter. Please give both reasons in your explanation for full credit.
Ag2O---> Ag +O2
1. The law of conservation of matter states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction. This means that the total mass of the reactants must be equal to the total mass of the products.
2. The chemical equation Ag2O ---> Ag + O2 does not demonstrate the law of conservation of matter for two reasons:
a) The equation does not balance the number of atoms on both sides. In this case, there are two atoms of silver (Ag) on the left side, but only one atom of silver on the right side. Additionally, there are two atoms of oxygen (O) on the left side, but only one molecule of oxygen (O2) on the right side. This imbalance implies that matter is either being created or destroyed, which violates the law of conservation of matter.
b) The equation does not account for the charge balance. The compound Ag2O consists of silver cations (Ag+) and oxide anions (O2-). When it breaks down into the products Ag and O2, the charges are not balanced. Silver cations would require a counterbalancing anion, such as nitrate (NO3-), to maintain charge neutrality. This failure to balance the charges further violates the law of conservation of matter.