Changes

==Even in chemical reactions...==

==Even in chemical reactions...==

...mass is not perfectly conserved. Mass is converted to energy in a chemical reaction, just as it is in a nuclear reaction; it's just that the energy is so relatively small that the changes in mass are minuscule. I don't know whether or not they've ever been detected directly. But in theory, if energy is released, the total mass of the all of the chemical components should be slightly smaller afterwards. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 08:26, 6 March 2007 (EST)

...mass is not perfectly conserved. Mass is converted to energy in a chemical reaction, just as it is in a nuclear reaction; it's just that the energy is so relatively small that the changes in mass are minuscule. But in theory, if energy is released, the total mass of the all of the chemical components should be slightly smaller afterwards.  I don't know whether or not modern instrumentation is sensitive enough for this ever to have been confirmed directly. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 08:26, 6 March 2007 (EST)