Conservation of Mass There Is No New Matter

The liquid with the lower boiling point vaporizes first. The vapors are collected and cooled (with cold water) until they condense back into liquid form. 

This law is a slight oversimplification. In nuclear reactions, oovered in Chapter 17, significant changes in mass can occur. In chemical reactions, however, the changes are so minute that they can be ignored. 

As we have seen, our planet, our air, and even our own bodies are composed of matter. Physical and chemical changes do not destroy matter, nor do they create new matter. Recall from Chapter 1 that Antoine Lavoisier, by studying combustion, established the law of conservation of mass, which states  

Matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemicai reaction. 

During physical and chemical changes, the total amount of matter remains constant even though it may not initially appear that it has. When we burn butane in a lighter, for example, the butane slowly disappears. Where does it go It combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water that travel into the surrounding air. The mass of the carbon dioxide and water that form, however, exactly equals the mass of the butane and oxygen that combined. 

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