$(a)$ State the law of conservation of mass.
$(b)$ What mass of silver nitrate will react with $5.85 \, g$ of sodium chloride to produce $14.35 \, g$ of silver chloride and $8.5 \, g$ of sodium nitrate,if the law of conservation of mass is true?

(17 G) The law of conservation of mass states that mass can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.
$(b)$ The balanced chemical equation is:
$AgNO_{3}(aq) + NaCl(aq) \rightarrow AgCl(s) + NaNO_{3}(aq)$
According to the law of conservation of mass:
Total mass of reactants = Total mass of products
Let the mass of $AgNO_{3}$ be $x$.
Mass of reactants = $x + 5.85 \, g$
Mass of products = $14.35 \, g + 8.5 \, g = 22.85 \, g$
Equating the two:
$x + 5.85 \, g = 22.85 \, g$
$x = 22.85 \, g - 5.85 \, g$
$x = 17 \, g$
Therefore,$17 \, g$ of silver nitrate will react.