large/12904/worldswithinworlds_v1-3_1904_librivox_64kb_mp3/worldswithinworlds_02_asimov_64kb_119
large/12904/worldswithinworlds_v1-3_1904_librivox_64kb_mp3/worldswithinworlds_02_asimov_64kb
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12904
_] Naturally, it would occur to scientists to wonder if a similar law might hold for energy. NATURALLY IT WOULD OCCUR TO SCIENTISTS TO WONDER IF A SIMILAR LAW MIGHT HOLD FOR ENERGY
ssible that such a rule might exist, since one had been found in connection with matter that appeared in even greater variety than energy did. All matter, whatever its form and shape, possessed mass, and in the 1770s, the French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) discovered that the quantity of mass was constant. If a system of matter were isolated and made to undergo complicated chemical reactions, everything about it might change, but not its mass. A solid might turn into a gas; a single substance might change into two or three different substances, but whatever happened, the total mass at the end was exactly the same (as nearly as chemists could tell) as at the beginning. None was either created or destroyed, however, the nature of the matter might change. This was called the “law of conservation of mass”. [Illustration: _Lavoisier in his laboratory during his studies on respiration. From a sketch made by Madame Lavoisier._] [Illustration: _Antoine Lavoisier and his wife. D SO VARIOUS THAT SCIENTISTS WERE EAGER TO FIND SOME RULE THAT COVERED THEM ALL AND WOULD THEREFORE SERVE AS A UNIFYING BOND IT DID NOT SEEM IMPOSSIBLE THAT SUCH A RULE MIGHT EXIST SINCE ONE HAD BEEN FOUND IN CONNECTION WITH MATTER THAT APPEARED IN EVEN GREATER VARIETY THAN ENERGY DID ALL MATTER WHATEVER ITS FORM AND SHAPE POSSESSED MASS AND IN THE SEVENTEEN SEVENTIES THE FRENCH CHEMIST ANTOINE LAURENT LAVOISIER SEVENTEEN FORTY THREE SEVENTEEN NINETY FOUR DISCOVERED THAT THE QUANTITY OF MASS WAS CONSTANT IF A SYSTEM OF MATTER WERE ISOLATED AND MADE TO UNDERGO COMPLICATED CHEMICAL REACTIONS EVERYTHING ABOUT IT MIGHT CHANGE BUT NOT ITS MASS A SOLID MIGHT TURN INTO A GAS A SINGLE SUBSTANCE MIGHT CHANGE INTO TWO OR THREE DIFFERENT SUBSTANCES BUT WHATEVER HAPPENED THE TOTAL MASS AT THE END WAS EXACTLY THE SAME AS NEARLY AS CHEMISTS COULD TELL AS AT THE BEGINNING NONE WAS EITHER CREATED OR DESTROYED HOWEVER THE NATURE OF THE MATTER MIGHT CHANGE THIS WAS CALLED THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS
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