Question

which statement best represents the law of conservation of matter with regard to chemical reactions? (1 point)
the reactants and products have the same number and type of atoms, and the atoms are not recombined.
the reactants and products have the same number and type of atoms, but the atoms may be recombined.
the reactants and products have different numbers of atoms, but the types of atoms are the same.
the reactants and products have different types of atoms, but the number of each atom is the same.

Explanation:

The law of conservation of matter states that in a chemical reaction, matter is neither created nor destroyed. Atoms are just rearranged (recombined) to form new substances (products) from the original substances (reactants). The number and type of atoms remain the same in reactants and products. For example, in the reaction \(2H_2 + O_2
ightarrow 2H_2O\), there are 4 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms on both the reactant (left) and product (right) sides. The atoms are recombined (hydrogen and oxygen atoms combine in a different way) to form water molecules.

Answer:

The reactants and products have the same number and type of atoms, but the atoms may be recombined.