According to the Law of Conservation of Mass, the total mass of the reactants must equal the total mass of the products. In this case, we are given:
- Mass of carbon (C) = 24 g
- Mass of carbon dioxide produced (CO₂) = 88 g
To find the mass of dioxygen (O₂) in the reactants, we can set up the equation:
\[ \text{Mass of reactants} = \text{Mass of products} \] \[ \text{Mass of C} + \text{Mass of O₂} = \text{Mass of CO₂} \]
We can rearrange this to find the mass of O₂:
\[ \text{Mass of O₂} = \text{Mass of CO₂} - \text{Mass of C} \]
Substituting the given values:
\[ \text{Mass of O₂} = 88 , \text{g} - 24 , \text{g} = 64 , \text{g} \]
Therefore, the mass of dioxygen (O₂) in the reactants is 64 g.