Conservation of Mass Chemistry Example 2

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Example 2

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In a sealed container, 50.050.0 g of calcium carbonate decomposes: CaCO3โ†’CaO+CO2\text{CaCO}_3 \rightarrow \text{CaO} + \text{CO}_2. If 28.028.0 g of CaO is produced, what mass of CO2\text{CO}_2 is released?

Solution

  1. 1
    Apply conservation of mass: mass of reactants == mass of products.
  2. 2
    50.0โ€‰g=28.0โ€‰gย (CaO)+mCO250.0\,\text{g} = 28.0\,\text{g (CaO)} + m_{\text{CO}_2}.
  3. 3
    mCO2=50.0โˆ’28.0=22.0โ€‰gm_{\text{CO}_2} = 50.0 - 28.0 = 22.0\,\text{g}.

Answer

22.0โ€‰gย ofย CO222.0\,\text{g of CO}_2
Conservation of mass allows us to calculate the mass of any one substance in a reaction if we know all the others. This principle holds whether the container is open or closed.

About Conservation of Mass

A fundamental law stating that in any chemical reaction, the total mass of all reactants exactly equals the total mass of all products, because atoms.

Learn more about Conservation of Mass โ†’

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