Question

culminating question: after critically reading the text, now answer the culminating question: what are chemical reactions and how do they demonstrate the law of conservation of mass?

Explanation:

A chemical reaction is a process where substances (reactants) transform into new substances (products). The Law of Conservation of Mass states that mass is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction. In a chemical reaction, the total mass of the reactants equals the total mass of the products. For example, in the reaction \(2H_{2}+O_{2}
ightarrow 2H_{2}O\), if we have \(4\space g\) of \(H_{2}\) and \(32\space g\) of \(O_{2}\) (total reactant mass \(= 36\space g\)), we get \(36\space g\) of \(H_{2}O\) (product).

Answer:

A chemical reaction is a transformation of substances (reactants) into new substances (products). It demonstrates the Law of Conservation of Mass as the total mass of reactants equals the total mass of products.