A sample of wood with a mass of 3.0 grams was burned in an open dish. The ashes weighed 1.2 grams. Considering the law of conversation of mass, what is the explanation of what happened to the rest of the wood?

Question

Dallas Harrington

Chemistry

5 August, 18:51

A sample of wood with a mass of 3.0 grams was burned in an open dish. The ashes weighed 1.2 grams. Considering the law of conversation of mass, what is the explanation of what happened to the rest of the wood?

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Answers (1)

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Markus Wu · Answer 1

The rest of the wood was converted to gases

Explanation:

According to the law of conservation of mass, the mass on the reactant side must be equal to the mass on the product side. When wood is burned it forms ashes and gases. The mass of the ash plus gases must be equal to the mass of the wood and air used in burning it.

If 3g of wood were burned and the ashes produced weighs 1.2g, it means that the rest 1.8g have been converted to gases