Question

In an ordinary chemical reaction, _____________ are neither created nor destroyed.

Short answer

In an ordinary chemical reaction, \(\textbf{atoms}\) are neither created nor destroyed.

Step-by-step solution

Understanding Chemical Reactions

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. The substances initially present before the reaction are called reactants, while the newly formed substances after the reaction are called products. The substance that remains unchanged during the chemical reaction is the answer we are looking for.

Recognizing the Conservation Principle

The principle is called the Law of Conservation of Matter, which states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed in an ordinary chemical reaction. That means the amount (mass) of atoms in the reactants should be equal to the amount (mass) of atoms in the products.

Fill in the Blank

Using the information from the previous steps, we can complete the sentence: In an ordinary chemical reaction, \(\textbf{atoms}\) are neither created nor destroyed.

Key concepts

Chemical Reactions

Chemical reactions are fascinating processes where substances, known as reactants, transform into new substances called products. These reactions occur in a variety of everyday phenomena such as baking a cake or rusting iron.
For instance, when we mix baking soda with vinegar, they react to form water and carbon dioxide—an exciting bubbly reaction we can observe right before our eyes!
A few key points about chemical reactions include:

• Reactants are the starting materials or the substances that take part in the reaction.
• Products are the new substances formed as a result of the chemical reaction.
• Chemical reactions involve the breaking of old bonds and the formation of new ones. This rearrangement of atoms is what changes the reactants into products.

Atoms

At the core of any chemical reaction, we find atoms, which are the smallest basic units of matter that retain the characteristics of an element. Atoms are incredibly tiny and act as the building blocks for everything around us.
In a chemical reaction, these atoms do not disappear or magically appear. Instead, they just get rearranged from one configuration to another.
According to the Law of Conservation of Matter, in any ordinary chemical reaction, the number of atoms before and after the reaction remains the same. Here's what this means in simple terms:

• You can't create new atoms from nothing in a reaction.
• Atoms are not lost; they are simply put together in new ways to form the products.
• The mass of the reactants must equal the mass of the products, confirming that atoms are neither created nor destroyed.

Reactants and Products

Understanding the roles of reactants and products is key to grasping chemical reactions.
**Reactants** are the substances present at the start of a chemical reaction. Imagine them as the ingredients you need to make a cake. You mix them together, and through the process of baking (which involves heat and time), they transform into something delicious—a cake.
Similarly, in a chemical reaction, reactants are mixed and rearranged, usually with the help of energy like heat or light, to form new substances.
**Products** are like your final result—the cake, in this analogy. They are the substances formed when the chemical reaction is complete.
Key points to remember:

• The same atoms present in reactants are rearranged to become products.
• No atom is lost or gained; they are only assembled differently.
• The properties of products are usually different from those of reactants due to this rearrangement.