Gases in reactions
- Some chemical reactions may appear to involve a change in mass due to the presence of a gaseous reactant or product
- If the reaction flask is open and a gaseous product is allowed to escape, then the total mass of the reaction flask will decrease as product mass is lost when the gas leaves the system
- For example:
- When a metal reacts with oxygen, the mass of the oxide produced is greater than the mass of the metal you started with
- When metal carbonates thermally decompose, carbon dioxide is produced and escapes into the atmosphere leaving the metal oxide as the only solid product
Examiner Tip
Particles in the gas state still have mass! Remember mass is always conserved in chemical reactions