Previously you were told that according to the theory by
an atom is the smallest unit which can neither be created
or destroyed. You used this principle when you counted the number of each atom present for the reactant side of the
equation, and then counted each atom present on the product
side to insure that the numbers were the same.
Previously it was suggested that the term conservation of
matter was more appropriate for balancing equations
in which only chemical reactions occurred.
Looking at the above nuclear reaction, we see that atoms
change, thus violating conservation of matter, but that
the mass on each side of the equation is maintained, thus
the above nuclear reaction does not appear to violate
conservation of mass.
More discussion about nuclear reactions will be provided later.
