Which one of the following laws explains the formation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from carbon and oxygon ?

Options

A. Law of conservation of mass
B. Law of multiple proportions
C. Law of reciprocal proportions
D. Law of difinite proportions

Explanation

To determine which law explains the formation of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from carbon (C) and oxygen (O2), we can analyze the options based on the principles of chemical laws.

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Identify the Reaction**:
- When carbon reacts with oxygen, it can form two different compounds: carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
- The reactions can be represented as:
- \( C + \frac{1}{2}O_2 \rightarrow CO \)
- \( C + O_2 \rightarrow CO_2 \)

2. **Evaluate the Law of Conservation of Mass**:
- This law states that mass is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.
- In the formation of CO and CO2, the total mass of reactants equals the total mass of products. However, this law does not specifically explain the formation of different compounds from the same elements.

3. **Evaluate the Law of Definite Proportions**:
- This law states that a chemical compound always contains its component elements in fixed ratio by mass.
- While CO and CO2 are formed from carbon and oxygen, the ratios of these compounds differ (1:1 for CO and 1:2 for CO2), which does not align with this law.

4. **Evaluate the Law of Multiple Proportions**:
- This law states that when two elements can combine to form more than one compound, the masses of one element that combine with a fixed mass of the other element are in a ratio of small whole numbers.
- In our case, when carbon combines with different amounts of oxygen (1 for CO and 2 for CO2), the ratio of oxygen in these compounds is 1:2, which is a simple whole number ratio. This supports the law of multiple proportions.

5. **Conclusion**:
- The formation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from carbon and oxygen is best explained by the **Law of Multiple Proportions**. This law highlights how the different amounts of oxygen lead to the formation of distinct compounds with whole number ratios.

### Final Answer:
The law that explains the formation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from carbon and oxygen is the **Law of Multiple Proportions**.