Laws of Conservation of Mass and Energy

Introduction

In any science that requires computation, specifically in Chemistry, gathering measurements of various physical and chemical properties need to be strictly accurate and precise for it is in this most crucial phase that either make or brake the quality and value of science. No matter how good one may perform the experiment, without forethought on how to gather data correctly, the collected information would not be reliable enough to draw out a conclusion on it.

The main objective of this experiment is to explain thoroughly the reacting system which can be done through scientific observation because it is through this vital step that the facts needed to elucidate the reacting system are obtained.

It was Antoine Lavoisier, a French chemist that formulated one of the two laws that are observed in the experiment, the Law of Conservation of Mass, which stated that, in a chemical reaction, the total amount of matter of the reaction compounds remains constant. This law was expressed in a more general form as follows: The total amount of matter in a closed system remains constant.

The other law that was observed in the experiment is the Law of Conservation of Energy that states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed from one form into another.

Methodology

Samples were taken from the three main bottles that contained the three solutions that were needed in the experiment. 10 ml of solution A was placed on a 50 ml Erlenmeyer flask. This solution had transparent water like consistency and appearance. 3 ml of solution B was put on a 10 ml Erlenmeyer flask. This solution had a blue tint on it. 3 ml of solution C was also placed on another 10 ml Erlenmeyer flask. Like solution A, this last solution had the same transparent water like consistency and appearance. Cork Stoppers were placed on the rim of all the flasks. After making sure that the exteriors were dry, the whole system was weighed all at the same time and the measurement data recorded. Solution B was then poured onto the 50 ml flask, as the blue liquid trickled down slowly, there was toothpaste like precipitate that appeared on the bottom of the flask. It was not until the swirling began did the two solutions mix for before swirling the flask, the two solutions did not readily mix together. While carefully swirling the flask, the toothpaste like precipitate began to mix with the clear liquid.