ATOMS are FOREVER

The uncountable number of atoms that make up all of the matter in and on Earth were formed inside stars and during supernova events – 5+ billions of years ago!

Atoms are (with rare *exceptions) indestructible, permanent particles of matter that are continuously re-cycled through chemical reactions. You should not find it surprising that some of the gazzilions of carbon atoms that make up the molecules that make up your cells, were, millions of years ago - part of a dinosaur! Yes, the very same carbon atoms.

The indestructible and permanent nature of atoms is best summarized in the most important law in all of chemistry: “The Conservation of Atoms”

The Law of Conservation of Atoms states that,

Chemical reactions cannot create, destroy, or change atoms. Chemical reactions can only rearrange the atoms of the substances that enter a reaction into new molecular structures.

*Nuclear fission and fusion reactions along with radioactive (nuclear) decay are the exceptions.