My brother is in 10th grade chemistry and hates it, naturally, and since I am the resident chemist of the household I have the responsibility of helping him with his homework! Usually I am not a fan of high school chemistry because it deals with moles, soon you will find out why I am so anti-mole, and basic plug and chug. But today I found myself very enthusiastically answering the question “Why does the law of conservation of mass drive chemistry research?”

For those of you who don’t remember high school chemistry-I am very disappointed in you! But for your benefit I will refresh your memory: conservation of mass is the fundamental idea that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. For example, when water boils it looks like the water level is going down, but the water is not disappearing, it is turning into steam, another form of the same molecule. 

This idea is so fundamental because chemists strive to find out what’s going on “behind the scenes”, especially in cases where we cannot observe a change. This whole concept is what started chemistry and what allows us to start thinking about the unknown of daily happenings. If matter cannot be created nor destroyed, then what happens to it that the human eye cannot see, and the idea that something has to happen to these constantly changing everyday events is what chemists are trying to find out. Everything relates to this law and chemistry. For example; eating food and it turning into energy, clouds that lead to rainy weather, burning a fire, and many many more. It’s unthinkable how much we know and don’t know about chemical processes that happen all the time. I feel as though I am not doing the importance of this idea justice, but if it gets you to think a little bit about it, then my job was successful.