Any science geeks out there?

[onlyadream]

Another debate with my know-it-all hubby:
Here's the question; if you change the chemical properties of matter, does it still have the same mass?

(BTW, this is what happens when you help your kid out with their homework).

[TZ]

1. Conservation of mass.

For the most part...Are you asking if say you go from solid state to liquid state you are changing mass? If so no..its got the same mass overall.
However I'm a biologist and its been awhile since physics but I think I'm correct.

[onlyadream]

2. Never mind - I used wiki and found that we were both right

conservation of mass is for closed systems - so hubby was right. But in the real world, the mass will change - if you burn something, for example, the moisure will evaporate into the air.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Depends on how you change it, and what you mean by "it"

I mean, if you burn a log, the ashes left over are far less in mass than the original log; however, the total mass of ashes plus all the stuff that blew away (smoke, cinders, etc.) is equal to the original mass of the log.

Conservation of mass is a law, not just a good idea.