chemical reaction — a process that produces a chemical change, in which substances are changed into new substances Law of Conservation of Mass — a law that states mass is neither created nor destroyed by chemical reactions or physical transformations; rather, the total mass prior to a chemical reaction must equal the total mass after the reaction chemical equation — a representation of a chemical reaction using chemical symbols and numbers

Answer 1

You've provided a clear overview of some fundamental concepts in chemistry. Let's summarize and expand a bit on each term for clarity:

1. Chemical Reaction: This is a process where reactants undergo a transformation to form products. During a chemical reaction, the bonds between atoms in the reactants break, and new bonds form to create different substances. For example, when hydrogen gas reacts with oxygen gas, they form water (H₂ + O₂ → H₂O).

2. Law of Conservation of Mass: Proposed by Antoine Lavoisier in the 18th century, this fundamental principle states that in a closed system, the total mass of reactants before a chemical reaction is equal to the total mass of products after the reaction. This means that atoms cannot be created or destroyed; they can only rearrange themselves during a chemical transformation.

3. Chemical Equation: A chemical equation is a symbolic representation of a chemical reaction. It uses chemical formulas to denote the reactants (substances that undergo the reaction) and products (substances formed as a result of the reaction). For example, the combustion of methane can be represented as: \[ CH_4 + 2O_2 \rightarrow CO_2 + 2H_2O \] In this equation, one molecule of methane reacts with two molecules of oxygen to produce one molecule of carbon dioxide and two molecules of water.

These concepts are foundational to understanding how substances interact and transform in chemistry, providing a framework for predicting the outcomes of chemical reactions and balancing equations to ensure adherence to the Law of Conservation of Mass.