Chemical reactions

A chemical reaction can often be described as an elaborate and/or dance.   The number of each type of atom (whether it be oxygen atoms, carbon atoms etc.) remains the same before and after the reaction occurs.  However, the atoms pull apart from each other and realign with each other in new ways, forming new alliances.   Take the simple reaction of wood being combined with oxygen to form fire.  Wood consists largely of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms, and it is combined with oxygen gas to produce fire, which in this case is a combination of carbon dioxide gas and water vapor.  The number of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms in the fire is the same as the number of said atoms in the wood and oxygen gas.  However, they are aligned differently.   Thus, the carbon atom in the molecule of wood has broken away (the "or") from the hydrogen and oxygen atoms and combined (the and) with what was formerly the oxygen gas to form carbon dioxide gas. Similarly, the hydrogen atom in what had formerly been the wood molecule aligns with other oxygen atoms to form the water vapor.   Most reactions are far more complex and contain a far more intricate and in some cases spectacular interplay of the "and" and the "or".   There are some reactions that principally feature the "or", causing sets of previously combined atoms to be broken apart, and some that principally feature the "and".  In any case, the number of atoms for each element remains the same before and after the reaction.  Only their alliances have changed.