The most accurate statement describing what is true of the result when wax melts is:
The same amount of wax exists before and after the change.
This describes the law of conservation of mass, which states that mass is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical or physical change. While the wax changes from a solid to a liquid, its total mass remains constant.
The other options are less accurate for a melting process:
- The bonding of the atoms is not the same before and after the change: This is misleading; the chemical composition of the wax remains the same, and the melting is a physical change, not a chemical one.
- The wax has the same density before and after the change: The density may change upon melting, as the volume of the wax changes.
- The wax cannot be changed back into a solid: This is incorrect; melted wax can solidify again when cooled.