Does the law of conservation of mass require water to be in a particular phase?

1 Answer
Jan 8, 2018

That is NOT a requirement of the conservation of mass.

Explanation:

Conservation of mass is useful for following material movements. BUT, it does not necessarily apply to molecules. "Water" is not a physically conserved property! It may be consumed, broken down, used for other things, and also created by different chemical reactions (combustion of organic material being a huge one).

There is nothing in the conservation of mass that requires a mass to go through any particular phases or physical locations.