Can energy be lost or used up?

Answer 1

I don't know what situation you are thinking of. The use of energy does correspond to doing work. You may be thinking of sitting quietly in a chair reading, not using any energy yourself (apart from your own internal metabolism), whilst your heating system keeps you warm. It may seem that no work is being done, but in fact your surroundings are losing heat continuously to the external of your house. That flow of heat is equivalent to mechanical or electrical energy through the relation 1 calorie = 1 Joule, or 1 BTU = 1055 Joules if you like BTU's. So even if mechanical work is not apparent, your use of heating BTU's is in effect doing work.

If this does not answer your question please submit another one but try to specify what situation you are thinking of

Answer 2

Potential energy is energy related to a position. If you put an object to a higher position (pushing it against the force of gravity), it will have more potential energy. If it falls down, this energy can again be converted into another kind of energy. While the object is high (say, on a shelf), the energy is stored as potential energy.

Having said that, one could nevertheless argue that all energy does involve motion somehow, on some scale. Thermal energy (heat) involves motion of the individual atoms and molecules. Nuclear energy involves the motion of subatomic particles. Chemical energy involves the motion of bound electrons between atoms. Electromagnetic energy (including light) involves the motion of photons. Electrical energy, by its very definition, involves the motion of free electrons. Acoustic energy (sound) involves the periodic motion of air (or other medium) molecules as waves pass through them. Even potential energy had to invovle motion at some time in order to position an object such that it now has potential energy.

Answer 3

Lost: no. Used up: yes.

To be more precise, energy can't be destroyed - the total amount of energy remains constant. However, it is possible to convert useful energy into unusable energy. In fact, this happens all the time.

Answer 4

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, according to the law of conservation of energy. However, energy can be transformed from one form to another or transferred from one system to another. In some processes, energy may appear to be "lost" as it is converted into forms that are not readily available for further use.

Answer 5

nope, some energy's do not require motion!

Answer 6

no

Only if properly directed.

Answer 7

Yes