If a chemical reaction such as photosynthesis begins with 6 atoms of carbon C , how many atoms of carbon C should be in the products?
a. 12 atoms of carbon C
b. 6 atoms of carbon C
c. 3 atoms of carbon C
d. 2 atoms of carbon C
b. 6 atoms of carbon C I would think this is the answer, because one can't just delete or add atoms; otherwise, the equation would be unbalanced. This also abides with the Law of Conservation of Mass.
Plus, I also came to that conclusion because if we look at the net equation of photosynthesis: [tex]6C O_{2} + 6H_{2}O[/tex] ––> [tex]C_{6}H_{12}O_{6} + 6O_{2}[/tex] The number of Carbon atoms is 6 on both the reagent's side and the product's side.
