A student wants to demonstrate the law of conservation of mass during a chemical reaction. They find the mass of their initial reactants to be 52 grams. They conduct the reaction in a
beaker, and notice bubbles being produced in the reaction. At the conclusion of the reaction,
they find the mass of the products to be 46 grams. Based on their observations, which of the
following most likely explains the apparent change in mass?
A. The student made a mistake measuring the reactants.
B. The student conducted the reaction in an open beaker, which allowed one of the products, a
gas, to escape.
C. The student accidentally conducted a nuclear reaction in the beaker, and actually did destroy
matter by converting it into energy.
D. Conservation of mass is only a theory, and may be wrong.