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        • The Effect of Prozac on the Brain
        • Philae Lander's Discovery of Organic Molecules
        • Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Turbines
        • Your Own Worst Enemy: An Overview of Lupus
        • The Methylhex Ban
        • The Effect of Lyme Disease on the Immune system
        • Infectious Mononucleosis
        • Replacing CFCs
        • The Switch
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • The 43rd Figure
        • The Clock
        • The Collatz Conjecture
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        • Determining how Ballparks Affect Batter's Ability to Create Hits
        • The Rotating Conundrum
        • Pythagorean Puzzle
        • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
        • Kinetics Lab
        • Math in the Restaurant Business
        • Math as a Vessel for Social Change
        • Sustainability of Bottled Vs. Tap Water
        • Thoughts on the Lottery
        • Understanding Player Efficiency Rating
      • Scientific Research >
        • Communicating With Computers
        • The Mystery of Asthma
        • The Nanoscopic War Against Cancer
        • Phytochemistry
        • Solving the energy crisis with Intermediate Band Solar Cells
        • A Pain That Never Ends
        • Rapamycin Resistance
        • Ampacity of a Single Core Horizontal Cable
        • Morphological Properties of Texting Acronym Formation
        • cGAS and STING Expression
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Can Humans Survive the Climate Crisis?
        • My Experience as a Teacher's Assistant
        • Ted Talk Responses
        • Teens For Food Justice
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        • Deltoidal Hexacontrahedon
        • Dodecahedron Card Trick
        • Eye of the Triangle
        • Free Radric Delantic Davis
        • The Grid
        • What Does A Randomly Composed Song Sound Like?
        • Science Wing Mural
    • 2014 Publication >
      • Cover Photo
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Art Using the Fibonacci Sequence
        • Computer Generated Architecture and Designs
        • Mathematical Landscape
        • Math Art
        • Math in Music
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Algae Bio-Fuel
        • An Energy Alternative
        • Clean Energy In Transportation
        • Calorie Restriction
        • Creating Energy in the Modern World
        • Dietary Intervention Impact on Gut Microbial Gene Richness
        • Earthly Applications for NASA Technology
        • Explaining Relative Motion
        • Exploring Artificial Inteligence
        • Gamma Function
        • How Leaves Work
        • Hydrogen Fuel Cells
        • Music and Brain Development
        • Programming Calculators
        • The Science of Microsatellites
        • Sci-Fi Taser
        • Sloane's Gap
        • Sustainable Energy: Why Some Ideas Shine Brighter than Others
        • Understanding The Galvanic Cell
        • The Virus: Our Unforeseen Philosopher's Stone
        • What Are Fuel Cells and How Do They Work?
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • Astrocytes Expressing ALS-Linked Mutated SOD1 Release Factors Selectively Toxic to Motor Neurons
        • Big Bang
        • Dictyostelium Discoideum
        • The Future of Solar Cell Technology
        • And Many More...
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Alternative Energy Sources, New but Unused
        • An Insight Into the Curious World of Ethnobotany
        • Challenging What We Think We Know
        • The Current State of American Education
        • Discovering New Numbers
        • Interview With an Architect
        • Life of Pi Response
        • Mathematical Art Video Commentary
        • Missing from Science Class
        • The Museum of Math
        • The Inside Scoop on a Real Mathematician
    • 2013 Publication

WHAT SCIENTIFIC TERM OR CONCEPT OUGHT TO BE MORE WIDELY

​KNOWN? - THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS

Editor’s Note: In this paper, Saskia Grisaru (‘19) explains the essential concept of The Law of the Conservation of Mass and how this scientific concept plays out in the real world.
The Law of Conservation of Mass, which states that mass in a closed system can neither be created nor destroyed, is indubitably one of the defining characteristics of our universe. Developed during the 18th century by the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, this law plays a part in scientific and real world affairs in innumerable ways. While perhaps best known by chemists as the rationale for balancing chemical equations, the Law of Conservation of Mass is applicable to many important processes. 
One important process that this law applies to is the existence and sustenance of all life. For instance, when a human eats food, our bodily functions are able to convert that food to nutrients, which are then used by the body for energy, growth, and cell repair. Similarly, when a plant undergoes the process of photosynthesis, it is able to derive energy from the sun, water from the soil, and carbon dioxide gas from the air, and convert these components to sugars. These sugars fuel the plant and allow it survive and grow. Furthermore, during photosynthesis, plants release oxygen into the air—oxygen which then supports animal life. Both the digestive and photosynthetic processes begin with completely different ingredients than those with which they conclude, yet matter is never created nor destroyed; it is simply rearranged to form different products. The Law of Conservation of Mass is also relevant to important issues today. 
In a time when, according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal,” this law can be used to explain some of humanity’s crippling effects that exacerbate the state of our planet. Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere, absorbing sunlight and solar radiation that are reflected off of the earth’s surface. Naturally, sunlight and radiation would be able to escape through our atmosphere, but instead these pollutants trap the light and radiation, which causes Earth’s temperatures to rise. So how do we humans contribute to global warming? Well, mainly by emitting carbon dioxide. In the United States, the burning of fossil fuels to generate energy is the largest sources of carbon dioxide emission—about two billion tons annually. The second largest source of carbon pollution lies in our use of transportation, which generates about 1.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year. But how does the Law of Conservation of Mass apply to carbon dioxide emissions? Well, because of this law, we know that when a car running on gasoline is driven, the gasoline cannot simply disappear—instead, some of the matter emitted from the tailpipe is harmful carbon dioxide. 
To a greater extent, it is important for people to understand the Law of Conservation of Mass because it has a role in everything we do. Moreover, as in the case of global warming and carbon dioxide, we must keep in mind that there are always consequences for our actions. The Law of Conservation of Mass decrees that mass in an isolated system cannot simply disappear; instead, it may manifest in harmful forms that must be considered. Whether conducting a chemistry experiment in a lab, or driving a car down the highway, we as humans must learn to be mindful of our actions and the inevitable repercussions. 

Works Cited:
​
Climate Change: How do we know? (2017, February 23). Retrieved April 1, 2017, from https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ 
Donovan, A. L. (2017, March 17). Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier. Retrieved April 1, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antoine-Laurent-Lavoisier 
How Plants Acquire Their Energy. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2017, from http://www.dummies.com/education/science/biology/how-plants-acquire-their-energy/ 
MacMillan, A. (2016, March 11). Global Warming 101. Retrieved April 2, 2017, from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-101 
Your Digestive System. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2017, from http://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/your-digestive-system#1
​
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  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • HOW TO SUBMIT
  • Past Publications
    • 2019 Publication >
      • Scientific Research
      • Mathematical Exploration
      • Scientific Exploration
      • Computer Science
    • 2018 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Scientific Research
    • 2017 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Scientific Research
    • 2016 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
      • Scientific Research
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Artistic Creations
    • 2015 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Bell Curves
        • Birds Vs. Turbines
        • Energy in the Obama Era
        • The Future of Neuroscience
        • Gender Gap in Math
        • GMOs--Yes or No?
        • The History of Minecraft: How a Swedish Indie Game Came to Dominate the World
        • The Effect of Prozac on the Brain
        • Philae Lander's Discovery of Organic Molecules
        • Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Turbines
        • Your Own Worst Enemy: An Overview of Lupus
        • The Methylhex Ban
        • The Effect of Lyme Disease on the Immune system
        • Infectious Mononucleosis
        • Replacing CFCs
        • The Switch
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • The 43rd Figure
        • The Clock
        • The Collatz Conjecture
        • Constructing a Soccer Ball
        • Determining how Ballparks Affect Batter's Ability to Create Hits
        • The Rotating Conundrum
        • Pythagorean Puzzle
        • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
        • Kinetics Lab
        • Math in the Restaurant Business
        • Math as a Vessel for Social Change
        • Sustainability of Bottled Vs. Tap Water
        • Thoughts on the Lottery
        • Understanding Player Efficiency Rating
      • Scientific Research >
        • Communicating With Computers
        • The Mystery of Asthma
        • The Nanoscopic War Against Cancer
        • Phytochemistry
        • Solving the energy crisis with Intermediate Band Solar Cells
        • A Pain That Never Ends
        • Rapamycin Resistance
        • Ampacity of a Single Core Horizontal Cable
        • Morphological Properties of Texting Acronym Formation
        • cGAS and STING Expression
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Can Humans Survive the Climate Crisis?
        • My Experience as a Teacher's Assistant
        • Ted Talk Responses
        • Teens For Food Justice
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Chandelier
        • Deltoidal Hexacontrahedon
        • Dodecahedron Card Trick
        • Eye of the Triangle
        • Free Radric Delantic Davis
        • The Grid
        • What Does A Randomly Composed Song Sound Like?
        • Science Wing Mural
    • 2014 Publication >
      • Cover Photo
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Art Using the Fibonacci Sequence
        • Computer Generated Architecture and Designs
        • Mathematical Landscape
        • Math Art
        • Math in Music
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Algae Bio-Fuel
        • An Energy Alternative
        • Clean Energy In Transportation
        • Calorie Restriction
        • Creating Energy in the Modern World
        • Dietary Intervention Impact on Gut Microbial Gene Richness
        • Earthly Applications for NASA Technology
        • Explaining Relative Motion
        • Exploring Artificial Inteligence
        • Gamma Function
        • How Leaves Work
        • Hydrogen Fuel Cells
        • Music and Brain Development
        • Programming Calculators
        • The Science of Microsatellites
        • Sci-Fi Taser
        • Sloane's Gap
        • Sustainable Energy: Why Some Ideas Shine Brighter than Others
        • Understanding The Galvanic Cell
        • The Virus: Our Unforeseen Philosopher's Stone
        • What Are Fuel Cells and How Do They Work?
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • Astrocytes Expressing ALS-Linked Mutated SOD1 Release Factors Selectively Toxic to Motor Neurons
        • Big Bang
        • Dictyostelium Discoideum
        • The Future of Solar Cell Technology
        • And Many More...
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Alternative Energy Sources, New but Unused
        • An Insight Into the Curious World of Ethnobotany
        • Challenging What We Think We Know
        • The Current State of American Education
        • Discovering New Numbers
        • Interview With an Architect
        • Life of Pi Response
        • Mathematical Art Video Commentary
        • Missing from Science Class
        • The Museum of Math
        • The Inside Scoop on a Real Mathematician
    • 2013 Publication