You place 3000 grams of firewood into your fireplace and burn it. The mass of the ash is less than the original 3000 grams of wood placed into the fireplace. Explain how the mass of ash is less than the 3000 grams originally placed into the fireplace. Does the law of conservation of mass apply to this fire? Use 1-2 sentences to explain this.

Answer 1

When the firewood burns, it undergoes a chemical transformation, converting into gases (like carbon dioxide and water vapor) that are released into the atmosphere, resulting in less mass remaining as ash. The law of conservation of mass still applies, as the total mass of the original firewood, ash, and gases released remains constant; the mass of the gases is not accounted for in the ash.