Question
Magnesium hydroxide reacts with nitric acid to produce magnesium nitrate and water.
Mg(OH)2+2HNO3→Mg(NO3)2+2H2O
In one to two sentences, explain how because this chemical equation is balanced, it demonstrates that matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.
Mg(OH)2+2HNO3→Mg(NO3)2+2H2O
In one to two sentences, explain how because this chemical equation is balanced, it demonstrates that matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The balanced chemical equation shows that the number of atoms of each element on the reactant side (left) is equal to the number on the product side (right), confirming that during the reaction, matter is conserved; it is neither created nor destroyed, but rather transformed from one form to another. This adherence to the law of conservation of mass illustrates that all reactants are accounted for in the products.