A student combines two liquids in a beaker. She observes that the mass of the combined liquid is less than the mass of the two separate liquids. The student claims that this observation shows that matter is not conserved in chemical reactions. Which statement explains why the student’s claim is incorrect?(1 point) Responses The reaction did not change the physical properties of the liquids. The reaction did not change the physical properties of the liquids. The product contained fewer atoms than the reactants. The product contained fewer atoms than the reactants. The reaction produced a gas that escaped the beaker. The reaction produced a gas that escaped the beaker. The combined liquid was warmer than the two separate liquids. The combined liquid was warmer than the two separate liquids. Skip to navigation

Answer 1

The correct statement that explains why the student’s claim is incorrect is:

The reaction produced a gas that escaped the beaker.

This statement indicates that during the process of combining the two liquids, some matter (in the form of gas) was released and unable to be measured in the mass of the combined liquids, leading to the observation that the mass was less than that of the two separate liquids. This does not violate the law of conservation of mass, which states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a closed system.