Activity!

Law Conservation of Mass

Secure a birthday candle to a Petri-Dish and weigh all. Light candle on a scale and record the weight of the candle every minute for 10 minutes.

Light fan can speed combustion / results.

Spreadsheet on next page. Lab questions to be answered at end.

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Record the Following Spreadsheet into your Journal.

Weight of Candle at Start (grams)

Time Start 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Please graph results in a line graph.

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

grams

grams

grams

grams

grams

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

-Simulated data if not conducting demonstration

5 grams

4 grams

3 grams

2 grams

1 gram

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Questions!

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Questions!

Why did the candle decrease in mass?

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Questions!
Why did the candle decrease in mass? Did the flame destroy matter (candle) or just change its form?

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Questions!
Why did the candle decrease in mass? Did the flame destroy matter (candle) or just change its form? From what form did the candle change?

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Questions!
Why did the candle decrease in mass? Did the flame destroy matter (candle) or just change its form? From what form did the candle change?

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Answers to Questions!

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Answers to Questions!

Why did the candle decrease in mass?

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Questions!
Why did the candle decrease in mass? Answer! Because the candle which was a solid turned into a gas during combustion. The gas was not collected to be measured.

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Questions!

Did the flame destroy matter (candle) or just change its form?

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Questions!
Did the flame destroy matter (candle) or just change its form? Answer! No, Matter cannot be created or destroyed but changed from one form to another.

Questions!

From what form did the candle change?

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy

Questions!
From what form did the candle change? Answer! The candle changed from a solid to a liquid (melting) and into a gas (evaporation).

Copyright 2010 Ryan P. Murphy