Mass of Products VS. Mass of Reactants- Class Assessment

[Sophia Diaz - Dis 1B]

One of the questions I keep running into is:
Can the mass of the products of an equation be more than the mass of the reactants?

I can see the answer being yes because maybe in certain reactions surrounding elements during the experiment like oxygen may affect the reaction, but I don't know if that makes that oxygen a reactant. But then again, logically, I can see the answer being no since it makes sense that you can't have more mass than you started with.

So in this case, is the answer: no, yes, or under certain circumstances?

[ErinKim1I]

I think this question is just testing if you understand law of conservation of mass, so I think the answer should be no.

[MadelynNguyen1F]

I remember that question from the module assessment and the answer is no.

[Jessica Urzua-1H]

The Law of Conservation of Mass states that matter cannot be created or destroyed. You can conclude that the answer is no, because the mass must be the same for both the reactants and the products no matter what the reactants and products are, including oxygen. It can be tricky because it is sometimes understood that mass of products is supposed to be more than the mass of reactants because products are supposed to be new compounds made from the reactants. Although the reactants make the products, that does not mean that the mass of the products should be any different than the mass of the reactants. This is why we balance equations to make sure the mass and the ratios from the chemical reaction are accurate. I hope this helps!!

[Erin Li 1K]

No; based on the law of conservation of mass, the amount of products is equal to the mass of the reactants since this mass is not created nor destroyed in chemical reactions. They are just bonded differently.

[Luis Avalos 1D]

Like everyone else is saying, chemistry strictly follows the law of conservation of mass. What we would ideally observe is the same masses, but sometimes mass is lost when we transfer the products elsewhere.