Danielle Fried

2/10/06
pd. 4
Law of Conservation of Mass Lab Report
Purpose/Introduction
Matter is neither created nor destroyed during a chemical reaction and the mass of a
system should therefore remain constant during any chemical process.-Lavoisiers law
of conservation of mass. In this lab, the goal is to try and prove this law by
experimenting with vinegar and baking soda, a simple chemical reaction. According to
the law, after the vinegar and baking soda react, the product will weigh the same as the
original masses of both the vinegar and the baking soda separately.
Hypothesis
If vinegar and baking soda are mixed, then the mass of the product will stay the same.
Procedure
Part 11. Gather all needed materials-balance, graduated cylinder, vinegar, baking soda, 2
plastic cups, and plastic bag.
2. Put the plastic cup onto the balance, and add 1g of baking soda.
3. Measure 10mL of vinegar into the graduated cylinder and then pour into the
second plastic cup.
4. Measure the mass of both cups on the balance and record the results.
5. Take the cups off the balance and pour the cup of vinegar into the cup of baking
soda, adding small amounts at a time.
6. After it is done reacting, measure both of the cups on the balance to discover the
final mass of the system and record the results.
Part 21. Develop an experiment using the plastic bag that will more accurately portray the
test of the law of conservation mass.
2. After it has been approved by the teacher, perform the procedure by using the
same chemicals and quantities used before and record the data.
Data, Observations, Calculations, and Graphs

Part 1
Part 2

Vinegar and baking soda

mass before reaction

Vinegar and baking soda

mass after reaction

15.55 grams
20.31 grams

12.59 grams
20.31 grams

Questions
1. No, the law of conservation of mass was not really violated in Part 1 as it
appeared because by using an open cup to measure the mass of the reactants, the
gas given off by the reaction was able to escape into the atmosphere and was
therefore not measured by the balance.
2. The results for Part 2 were much more accurate than the results from Part 1
because by doing the reaction in the plastic bag, the gas could not escape and was
able to be measured.
3. Firstly, the handout describing the lab contained an introduction which enabled a
better understanding of the reasoning behind the experiment. Using this
information, a hypothesis was able to be made. After the hypothesis was
determined, the steps of the procedure were implemented, with contrasting results
in each part. From the results, the information was recorded into a data table. An
analysis of the accuracy of each part was able to be obtained from this
information. Conclusions were drawn from the analysis of the data.
4. This does not violate the law of conservation mass because just as in this
experiment, gas is given off as the fire burns the log and is not present in the ash,
but in the atmosphere. This is seen in the smoke that is a result of the fire.
Conclusion
In conclusion, some possible sources of error could have resulted from faulty equipment,
such as the balance, and, of course, from any human error including inappropriate
measurements of the ingredients, spilling ingredients, or not measuring the masses
correctly. The results of the first experiment were that the mass of the cups of vinegar
and baking soda before the reaction were 15.55 grams and the mass of them after the
reaction was 12.59 grams. In the second experiment, the mass before the reaction was
20.31 and was the same after the reaction. The results from the second experiment
confirmed the law of conservation of mass because the mass of both the vinegar and
baking soda before the reaction was the same as the mass of the ingredients after the
reaction took place. The hypothesis was correct regarding the second experiment, since it
was performed more accurately, because the results supported the law of conservation of
mass.