12/10/24, 6:03 PM Conservation of mass - BBC Bitesize
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Conservation of mass
Part of Chemistry Chemical reactions
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Key points
What is the conservation of mass?
Video
What happens to mass?
What is the difference between weight and mass?
Working scientifically
The mass of a gas
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12/10/24, 6:03 PM Conservation of mass - BBC Bitesize
Key points
During chemical reactions or a change of state, no atoms are created or
destroyed. The total mass of chemicals before and after a reaction remains
the same.
This is called the Law of Conservation of Mass.
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If you add 10 grams of sugar to 200 grams of warm water and stir to make a
sugar solution, what mass of solution will you have?
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What is the conservation of mass?
Video
Watch the video below to learn more about the conservation of mass.
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12/10/24, 6:03 PM Conservation of mass - BBC Bitesize
03:07
Video Transcript
Was the mass of the frozen water more than, less than, or the same as the
mass of the liquid water?
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What happens to mass?
Whenever a physical change or chemical reaction happens, the mass of
the chemicals before is the same as the mass of the chemicals after. This is
called the Law of Conservation of Mass.
For example, if a piece of wood is burned, the mass of the log and oxygen used
in the burning will be the same as the mass of the gases produced and the
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12/10/24, 6:03 PM Conservation of mass - BBC Bitesize
remaining ashes.
The mass remains the same
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What is the difference between weight and
mass?
Mass is the measurement of the amount of matter and is measured in
kilograms or grams.
The weight of an object is the gravitational force between the object and the
Earth. Weight is measured in newtons.
The weight of an object depends upon its mass and gravitational field
strength. The mass of an object stays the same wherever it is in the universe,
but its weight can change. For example, this happens if the object goes where
the gravitational field strength is different from the gravitational field
strength on Earth, such as into space or another planet.
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12/10/24, 6:03 PM Conservation of mass - BBC Bitesize
The weight of an object on the moon is 1/6th of its weight on Earth.
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Working scientifically
Maths skills for science
Maths skills are often used in science. We often need to make equations and
do calculations.
In conservation of mass, the maths skills being used are addition and
subtraction. The masses of the chemicals before the reaction can be added
together. The total will be the same as the sum of the masses of the chemicals
after the reaction. Subtraction will help you find the mass of a missing
reactant.
How much carbon is needed to produce 88 g of carbon dioxide, if 64 g is
oxygen?
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12/10/24, 6:03 PM Conservation of mass - BBC Bitesize
Show answer
Find out more about using maths when working scientifically.
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The mass of a gas
It isn't easy to measure the mass of a gas, and it may seem as though gases
don't weigh anything, but they do.
If 100 grams of water is put into a pan and boiled. Eventually, all the water
will boil away as steam. If you collected all the steam and measured its mass,
it would be exactly 100 grams.
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12/10/24, 6:03 PM Conservation of mass - BBC Bitesize
Boiling water releases steam
If it looks like a physical change or a chemical reaction has lost mass, that is
probably because gas has been produced and has escaped into the
surrounding air.
What happens to the mass of a candle as it burns?
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12/10/24, 6:03 PM Conservation of mass - BBC Bitesize
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Play the Atomic Labs game!
Try out practical experiments in this KS3 science game.
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More on Chemical reactions
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12/10/24, 6:03 PM Conservation of mass - BBC Bitesize
Find out more by working through a topic
What is combustion?
Language: Thermal decomposition
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