Question

AgNO3 and NaOH were combined in the first reaction. If you were to use a scale to find the mass of the AgNO3 and the NaOH before they were combined, and then find the mass of the final compound(s) after the experiment, how would the masses compare?

Answer 1

TLDR: They should be the same by the conservation law of masses.

Now it may appear as if they changed if one of the resulting products is in the form of a gas or another hard to examine and weigh. In those situations it may seem that the masses will change, but the ratio should remain constant. Try looking up 3.7: Conservation of Mass - There is No New Matter on ChemLibre for more information on this topic that goes more into depth about it.