Use the chemical equation to complete the activity. 2Cu+S→Cu2S Copper (Cu) reacts with sulfur (S) to form copper sulfide as shown in the equation. A scientist adds 12.7 grams of Cu to 3.2 grams of S to start the reaction. In this reaction, all of the copper and all of the sulfur react. Before running the experiment, the scientist expected the products of the reaction will be a total of 15.9 grams of copper sulfide (Cu2S). In 1–2 sentences, explain the law that the scientist used to predict that the product of the reaction would be 15.9 grams of copper sulfide

1 answer

The scientist used the Law of Conservation of Mass to predict the mass of the product, which states that in a chemical reaction, mass is neither created nor destroyed. Therefore, the total mass of the reactants (12.7 grams of Cu + 3.2 grams of S) will equal the total mass of the products, which the scientist predicted to be 15.9 grams of copper sulfide (Cu2S).