History of the Law of the

Conservation of Mass
ANTOINE LAVOISIER
In the late eighteenth
century, Antoine
Lavoisier, a French
chemist, recognized the
importance of accurate
measurements.
• He extensively studied and explained
the nature of combustion. He found
out that combustion involved reaction
with oxygen.
• Mass neither created not destroyed
during chemical or physical reaction.
• According to the law of conservation of
mass, the mass of the products in
chemical reaction must equal the mass of
the reactants.
• The law of conservation masses, such as
the amount of Gas consumed or
produced during a reaction.
REACTANTS

Any of the participants present at

the start of a chemical reaction.
Also, a molecule before it
undergoes a chemical change.
PRODUCTS

A chemical substance formed as a

result of a chemical reaction.

REACTANTS = PRODUCTS
2Mg + O2 2MgO
• The magnesium ribbon looks as it if
lost mass when it was burned.
• if we could trap and measure the
gases given up during burning.
• This assumption allows us to
represent a chemical reaction as a
balanced equation.
The Law of Conservation of
Mass-Energy
• Law was later amended by Einstein in the
law of conservation of mass-energy. which
describes the fact that the total mass and
energy in a system remain constant.
• This amendment incorporates the fact that
mass and energy can be converted from
one to another.
• However, the law of conservation of
mass remains a useful concept in
chemistry, since the energy produced
or consumed in a typical chemical
reaction accounts for a minute
amount of mass.
• Energy transformations are
processes that convert energy
from one type into another. Any
type of energy use must involve
some sort of energy
transformation.
THANK
t ha n k y o u
YOU SO
s o m uc h
MUCH!