What law states that energy is never gained or lost?

Answer 1

The Law of Conservation of Energy.

Answer 2

The law that states energy is never gained or lost, but only transferred or converted from one form to another, is the First Law of Thermodynamics, also known as the Law of Conservation of Energy. This law forms the basis of energy conservation principles in physics and states that the total energy within a closed system remains constant over time.

Answer 3

Energy is not lost, it is just converted into forms that are less able to do work, such as heat. The energy in something like gasoline is in the chemical bonds. A car engine converts the chemical energy into kinetic energy that can do work. When you burn gasoline in your car engine, the chemical energy is converted into mechanical energy that drives the engine and makes the car move. The more efficient the engine, the more useful work you get from the chemical energy and the less that is wasted and dissipated as heat. But even the most efficient engines are able to convert only a portion of the chemical energy into useful work. It is physically impossible to make an engine that is 100 percent efficient. The laws of nature are such that whenever energy is converted from one form to another the conversion is not totally efficient, so some energy is converted into other forms that are less able to do work. So energy is not lost, it just eventually dissipates into heat with lower and lower temperature.

Answer 4

The first law of thermodynamics, an expression of the principle of conservation of energy, states that energy can be transformed (changed from one form to another), but cannot be created or destroyed.

No. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change form. Energy may be transformed into heat energy. The laws of thermodynamics also state that two bodies who remain in contact transfer heat energy until they reach an equilibrium. Due to this heat energy may be absorbed within air particles. Good luck attempting to get this energy back once permeated through the air :D

An example is how chemical energy in petrol is converted into kinetic (movement) energy to drive a car, and how slowing down the car (by braking, crashing or just letting friction slow it down) converts the kinetic energy into heat.

Although energy is never destroyed, it tends towards 'lower quality' and less useful energy every step on the way. As an example, there is no easy way to collect the low grade heat energy from slowing down a car to put it back on the tank. The energy is still there, but in tiny pieces spread all over the place in a form we cannot use.

This is the second law of thermodynamics, saying that in any closed system (where the system does not get new energy from the outside) the entropy tends to increase. (Entropy is a mathematical definition of disorder - higher entropy means many small pieces instead of a few large ones)

One scenario for how the Universe will eventually end is that the stars burn out and leave just a cold and dark empty space. In this scenario all the energy from the Big Bang, which today forms our Sun, the planets and the stars, will still be there. It will just be spread very, very thinly across the whole of the Universe instead of being concentrated in relatively few big lumps (the Sun and the stars) the way it is today. :)

Answer 5

(Another contributor wrote:)

Energy is not lost, it is just converted into forms that are less able to do work, such as heat. The energy in something like gasoline is in the chemical bonds. A car engine converts the chemical energy into kinetic energy that can do work. When you burn gasoline in your car engine, the chemical energy is converted into mechanical energy that drives the engine and makes the car move. The more efficient the engine, the more useful work you get from the chemical energy and the less that is wasted and dissipated as heat. But even the most efficient engines are able to convert only a portion of the chemical energy into useful work. It is physically impossible to make an engine that is 100 percent efficient. The laws of nature are such that whenever energy is converted from one form to another the conversion is not totally efficient, so some energy is converted into other forms that are less able to do work. So energy is not lost, it just eventually dissipates into heat with lower and lower temperature.

Answer 6

Yes, energy is never lost. it can only change forms. This means the total amount of possible energy is always constant. Even though energy and matter can change into one another, the amount of energy and the possible energy (matter) stays the same. If you were to change all matter into energy, that amount of energy is always going to stay the same.

Answer 7

Energy is never lost or gained but it can be transformed.

Potential energy will remain constant if there is no movement within a system. As soon as the body moves, so the potential energy will change into another form of energy such as kinetic energy. A mass falling from a height is the most common demonstration of this transfer of energy. Kinetic energy, the energy of a moving mass, can be changed into other forms. For example, friction can slow a moving mass. Kinetic energy is transformed into thermal energy (heat), the result of the friction.

Answer 8

Because of the first law of thermodynamics energy can never be created or destroyed. It can only be converted to another form. For example the energy that is lost from the food that we eat is not destroyed it is released from our bodies as heat into the atmosphere. We can not reuse it but it is not destroyed.

Answer 9

No, energy can never be lost it is sort of passed on.

Answer 10

According to the first law of thermodynamics energy can never be destroyed. Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed. It can only be transferred in to and out of a system.