Most of us have an intuitive concept of energy. It’s what we need to accomplish physical actions such as walking, lifting a glass, heating water, or powering a television set. Although this definition is correct, it’s inaccurate because it only conveys how energy is used, not what energy is, or even how it behaves.
Energy is not a tangible substance. Energy is the capacity or ability to do work. Objects possess energy as a condition of their existence.
Water resting behind a dam, for example, possesses potential energy because of its condition of being able to fall downstream if the dam gate is opened. When the water begins to fall, its potential energy is converted into kinetic energy - the energy of moving objects. The water’s kinetic energy is transferred to a water wheel which is connected to a millstone that grinds wheat.
When water falls, the potential energy it possessed as condition of its previous states is not lost, but is transferred. Some of that potential energy is converted into the kinetic energy that turns the water wheel. Kinetic energy is transferred from the water to the water wheel. The water wheel’s kinetic energy is converted into mechanical energy which drives the mill and grinds the grain. This simple example illustrates the conservation of energy.
The Law of Conservation of Energy says that there is a finite amount of energy in the universe, constantly being transferred from one object to another object, and from one form into another form of energy.
This continual transfer of energy is a fundamental property of energy, its ability to be conserved.
Conservation of energy is the reason energy can be stored, bought, sold, and transported:
Energy in the form of sunlight is converted into chemical energy by plants
Plants are eaten by animals, and the plants’ chemical energy is converted into heat and muscular energy that allows animals to live
Plants and animals die, decompose and are converted into fossil fuels
Fossil fuels contain chemical energy that is converted into electric energy
Electric energy can be converted into kinetic energy, heat energy, light energy, mechanical energy, and the conservation of energy continues
The energy of an object, or of a system, is how much work the object or system can do on some other object or system. Energy is a measure of the capability of an object or system to do work on another system or object.
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