Matter can not be created or destroyed?

Question

Don't living things count as matter? We create (give birth to) new humans all of the time, so isn't that creating matter? Same goes for plants growing. And if living things don't count, then don't plants like.. turn into rocks and minerals or something over time? That's creating matter in a weird way.
My teacher doesn't seem to understand what I'm saying ^^. Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

The Law of Conservation of Matter states that, Matter can not be created or destroyed, but it can change it's form. When we create humans, think about it, the baby didn't just create itself inside us. The baby started out when the sperm and egg fertilized, then it took the nutrients from the mother (such as the food she eats), to grow. If there was no sperm, egg, or nutrients, there would be no baby. The matter is simply changing it's form, and same goes for plants. When rocks turn into minerals over time, the matter undergoing chemical reactions, which only changes the form of the matter; no matter is destroyed or created. And to think about it, the only way to create matter is to either 1) Have another Big Bang to create Hydrogen or 2) Have a star go through Nuclear fusion, have it's core contract, then explode. And the only way matter can be destroyed is if it encounters anti-matter, but this is physically impossible because anti-matter and matter had a huge, for the lack of a better word, "battle" after the big bang.

Answer 2

When we say "Matter cannot be created nor destroyed," we really mean:



The total amount of matter in a closed system (Like the universe) cannot be created nor destroyed. The total amount of matter in the universe is the same as it was a billion years ago. But matter is changed into energy, matter and energy can become one another. For example, when a baby is born, the matter that she is made of (The baby itself) is actually from the matter the mother consumed (e.g. Fruit.) In this way, one kind of matter is turned into another.



Plants grow larger but this is because they absorb other things like Nitrogen, this is a nutrient and this matter becomes the matter of the plant. Non-living things are just the same, different kinds of matter are just becoming other kinds of matter or energy.



It's a bit more complicated but for example, matter can become energy in a nuclear reaction. An atom is split and matter is lost, and a lot of energy is released.



Just remember though that the total amount of energy + matter can never change [in a closed system.]

Answer 3

Wrong, matter can certainly be created and destroyed. Its energy that cannot be created or destroyed. And that's the First Law of Thermodynamics, the energy conservation law.



Matter (mass) is being destroyed right now in nuke power plants to create the energy needed to turn the electrical generators to create grid power. And they can, and have, created tiny bits of mass from energy in the labs...(and anti matter as well).



But those examples you list are not examples of matter being created. Why? Because matter was used to create different forms of matter. New humans are built from nutrients (matter) taken in by the mother. Plants grow when fed water and minerals from the soil...more matter. In other words, matter was used to make different forms of matter, but it was not created.



Matter is created when only energy is used to create it. And in reverse, matter is destroyed when it results only in energy.



I suspect the real issue is that your teacher does understand what you're saying, but you don't understand why she/he is telling you it's wrong.

Answer 4

all the matter needed to create a new being was taken from the surroundings, like air particles, food etc. its the same for plants really. So were not making matter, just transfering it from one area to the next. According to theory, the universe is ever expanding, which contradicts the 'law' tht matter can neither be created or destroyed.

Answer 5

I create matter all the time: I accelerate a bunch of electrons through the equivalent of 6 billion volts and let them collide with a target. Energy turns into mass and I get new particles coming out!



But that's not what happens in biological systems- babies are re-arranged food and plants are re-arranged air and soil.

Answer 6

through fact each and every thing is of God. aside from God there is not any longer something, no longer even the gap for some thing. In a feeling that is God, besides the fact that if God is previous the universe as properly. Oh and scientifically conversing, there are some situations under which count could be created or destroyed interior the universe yet they are easily ameliorations from like capacity.

Answer 7

I believe your teacher means energy. "Energy can nor be created or destroyed" only transferred into energy such as chemical,kinetic and gravitational potential energy. All of the energy we get is from the environment and therefore the matter we may produce is technically transferred energy example foods to chemical energy

Answer 8

interesting. so if something can not be created then it doesn't exist. and if it does exist, then the theory that it can not be created is false.

Answer 9

No, it's just that molecules and matter come together to form into something new, the dust into planets, and all and such