When wood burns, a small amount of ashes is produced, and gas is given off. This reaction demonstrates the law of conservation of mass, which states that mass is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction, only transformed from one form to another.
Here's how this reaction illustrates the law of conservation of mass:
1. The mass of the wood and ashes equals the mass of the oxygen and smoke given off during burning: This option shows that the total mass of the wood and the ashes formed after burning is equal to the total mass of oxygen and smoke released during the combustion process. This demonstrates the conservation of mass because the total mass before and after the reaction remains the same.
2. The mass of wood and oxygen that allowed it to burn equals the mass of the ashes and the gas given off: In this scenario, the mass of the wood and the oxygen consumed during combustion is equivalent to the mass of the ashes and the gas produced. This also adheres to the law of conservation of mass by showing that the total mass is conserved throughout the reaction.
Both of these options explain how the burning of wood and the resulting products follow the law of conservation of mass by ensuring that the total mass before and after the reaction remains constant.
