The Law of Conservation of Mass was developed in the late 1700s, according to the Marine Institute. European scientist Antoine Lavoisier determined that mass remains unchanged when a standard chemical transformation is underway. More specifically, reactant products maintain natural mass even when affected by substances emanated as a result of chemical reactions.
Turn two independent substances into a disulphide substance to observe the conservation of mass. Adding 2 grams of carbon to 8.5 grams of sulfur, for example, will result in the creation of a carbon disulphide with a total mass of 10.5 grams. Adjusting the amount of carbon and sulfur may change the overall total mass, but it will always equal the combined independent masses of the two substances.
Combine a solid and liquid substance together to see how mass is maintained -- even when a solid is dissolved. Dropping a dissolvable stomach acid tablet into a bag filled with water, for example, is a prime example of mass conservation that is carried out with standard, household materials. Weighing the water on a triple beam balance without the contents of the solid and again once the solid is added and dissolved will result in an increase in overall mass. The activity demonstrates to students that although a solid may dissolve -- and visually disappear -- its physical elements remain intact.
All conservation of mass experiments should challenge a student's mathematic, linguistic, intrapersonal and spatial intelligences, according to the University of Houston. No matter what experiment you undertake, a student's knowledge of arithmetic is put to the test when carrying out equations related to the experiment. Linguistic knowledge is essential for articulating the experiment both orally and in written form. Intrapersonal intelligence is challenged by keeping one's emotions separate from scientific findings, while spatial intelligence is necessary for manipulating physical area for the purposes of experimentation.