What does the Law of Conservation of Matter state?

• A. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed.
• B. Substances cannot be broken down.
• C. Matter cannot be created nor destroyed.
• D. Mass is conserved in chemical reactions.

Answer: (C)

Matter cannot be created nor destroyed. In ordinary chemical and physical processes, the total amount of matter stays the same, even though its substances and forms may change. This is why chemical equations are balanced—the same atoms, in the same amounts, appear on both sides of the equation. The idea captures the overall conservation of matter in a closed system.

The other statements don’t fit as well. Saying energy cannot be created nor destroyed describes conservation of energy, not matter. Substances cannot be broken down is false because compounds can be decomposed into simpler substances. Saying mass is conserved in chemical reactions is true in practice, but it’s essentially a restatement of the same idea in terms of mass; the clearest way to express the law is that matter itself cannot be created or destroyed.