What is the law of conservation of mass?

The law of conservation of mass states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction. This principle, formulated by Antoine Lavoisier in the late 18th century, emphasizes that the total mass of reactants in a chemical reaction is equal to the total mass of the products, allowing us to track and balance chemical equations accurately. Essentially, during any chemical transformation, although substances may change in form, their total mass remains constant.

By adhering to this principle, chemists can predict the outcomes of reactions and understand that all atoms present in the reactants will be accounted for in the products, even if they are rearranged into new compounds. This foundational concept underlies many aspects of chemical science and is crucial for establishing the quantitative basis of stoichiometry.

The incorrect alternatives address different principles: one relates to energy and its conservation, another touches on the mass-energy equivalence introduced by Einstein, and a separate option refers to the indivisibility of atoms, which is not accurate in light of modern physics. Each of these options discusses different scientific theories or laws but does not directly address the specific notion of mass conservation during chemical reactions.