(a) define the system and the surroundings for the reaction described in this experiment. system surrounding (b) if water is one of the products does it belong in the system or to the surroundings?

The system is a portion of the universe that you separate to study it. It doesn't have to be a physical separation, you determine the boundaries of the system or a given problem has them determined. A machine, a rock, a room or a person can be defined as a system.

The surrounding is the rest of the universe that is not part of the system. So system + surrounding = universe.

Any products of the system are ouputs, these leave the system and are no longer part of it, therefore they are part of the surrounding.

in 1783 cavendish was working with his hydrogen gas and found that when he burned it and condensed the vapor it was water. this was very significant since it disproved the greek theory of elements completely since water was not a simple substance but the product of two gases. it was lavoisier who hearing of the experiment gave cavendish's gas the name hydrogen ("water-producer") and added that hydrogen burned by combining with oxygen and that water was a hydrogen-oxygen combination.

explanation: