Chemical equations should be balanced to illustrate the law of mass conservation. Which of the following statements concerning balanced chemical equations is accurate?

Question

A. The products must have an identical arrangement of atoms as that present in the reactants.
B. The products should possess the same quantity and variety of atoms as the reactants.
C. The products must have an identical quantity of atoms but may differ in the types of atoms compared to the reactants.
D. The products must have an identical variety of atoms but may vary in the quantity of atoms compared to the reactants.

Answer 1

The most accurate statement concerning balanced chemical equations is:

B. The products should possess the same quantity and variety of atoms as the reactants.

This statement correctly reflects the principle of the conservation of mass, which states that during a chemical reaction, the total mass of reactants must equal the total mass of products. Therefore, a balanced chemical equation must contain the same number and types of atoms on both sides of the equation.