Question

4​Fe+3O2→2Fe2O3
how does the equation show the law of conservation of mass
the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides
the sum of the coefficients and subscripts are the same on both sides
each element has the same subscript and coefficient on both sides
the number of reactants is equal to the number of products

Answers

GPT-4o mini
The equation \( 4 \text{Fe} + 3 \text{O}_2 \rightarrow 2 \text{Fe}_2\text{O}_3 \) demonstrates the law of conservation of mass by showing that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation. This means that matter is not created or destroyed in the reaction; instead, the atoms are simply rearranged.

Let's analyze it systematically:

- On the reactants side:
- Iron (Fe): 4 atoms
- Oxygen (O): \( 3 \times 2 = 6 \) atoms (since each \( \text{O}_2 \) molecule has 2 oxygen atoms)

- On the products side:
- Iron (Fe): \( 2 \times 2 = 4 \) atoms (since each \( \text{Fe}_2\text{O}_3 \) contains 2 iron atoms and there are 2 molecules)
- Oxygen (O): \( 2 \times 3 = 6 \) atoms (since each \( \text{Fe}_2\text{O}_3 \) contains 3 oxygen atoms and there are 2 molecules)

Thus, both sides have:
- 4 Iron (Fe) atoms
- 6 Oxygen (O) atoms

Therefore, the correct statement about how this equation demonstrates the law of conservation of mass is: **the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides.**