Atoms have mass.

If no atoms are gained or lost during a chemical reaction, then no mass is

gained or lost either. Zara, Sofia and Arun carry out the reaction between calcium carbonate
and hydrochloric acid.They place some calcium carbonate in a flask, add the hydrochloric
acid and place the stopper in the top of the flask. They place theflask on a top pan balance. They
each have different ideas about what will happen to the mass in the flask as the reaction takes
place.

Zara：I think the mass will decrease because one of the products is a gas and gases are very
light.
Sofia： I think the mass will increase because there are two reactants and three products, so
there are more products.
Arun: I think the mass will stay the same because there is a stopper in the top and no atoms can
enter or leave the flask.
Who is right ?

In chemical reactions the elements you begin with are the ones you end the reaction with.
Nothing is added or taken away. The mass you begin with is the mass you end with.
This important idea is called the law of conservation of mass.

The inner part of the mantle gets thermal energy from the core. The fluid
in the mantle then expands when heated and becomes less dense . This hotter, less dense fluid in
the mantle rises towards the crust, cools and sinks again, resulting in a convection current.
The mantle is a very thick fluid and does not flow easily like water, so the convection currents
move very slowly. As the convection currents in the mantle move across underneath the crust,
the tectonic plates that make up the crust are pulled along. Just as the convection currents are
slow, the movement of the tectonic plates is also slow, varying between 0.6 and 10 cm per year.

Evidence for tectonic plates

1) continental jigsaw appearance: the continents coasts could fit together like pieces of a
giant jigsaw puzzle.
2) The fossil record :Fossils are the remains of dead animals and plants that haveturned to
stone over millions of years.

3) earthquakes and volcanoes at the tectonic plate boundaries .