Twenty-four grams of magnesium metal reacts with sixteen grams of oxygen gas to form magnesium oxide. According to the law of conservation of mass, how much magnesium oxide will there be after the chemical change is complete?

Question

A.
16 g
B.
24 g
C.
30 g
D.
40 g

Answer 1

According to the law of conservation of mass, the total mass of the reactants must equal the total mass of the products in a chemical reaction.

In this case, we have:

• Mass of magnesium = 24 grams
• Mass of oxygen = 16 grams

To find the total mass of the products (magnesium oxide), we add the mass of magnesium and the mass of oxygen:

Total mass of products = Mass of magnesium + Mass of oxygen Total mass of products = 24 g + 16 g = 40 g

Therefore, the mass of magnesium oxide formed will be 40 grams.

The correct answer is:

D. 40 g