According to the law of conservation of matter, the total number of atoms before a chemical reaction must equal the total number of atoms after the reaction.
In this scenario:
- There are 10 atoms of carbon (C).
- There are 20 atoms of oxygen (O).
So, the total number of atoms before the reaction is:
10 (C) + 20 (O) = 30 atoms.
After the reaction, you form 10 molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2), which consists of 1 carbon atom and 2 oxygen atoms per molecule. Thus, in 10 molecules of CO2, there are:
- 10 carbon atoms (from 10 CO2 molecules)
- 20 oxygen atoms (since 2 O per molecule x 10 CO2 molecules)
Calculating the total after the reaction gives:
10 (C) + 20 (O) = 30 atoms.
Therefore, the total number of atoms present in this reaction is 30.