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Conservation of Energy

Definition

The principle that states that energy cannot be created or destroyed but can only be transferred or transformed from one form to another.

Analogy

Think of energy as money in your bank account. You can spend it on different things like buying food or paying bills, but you can't create more money out of thin air. Similarly, energy is constantly being used and transformed into different forms (e.g., kinetic energy to potential energy), but it cannot be created or destroyed.

Related terms

Work-Energy Principle: States that work done on an object is equal to its change in kinetic energy.

Law of Conservation of Mechanical Energy: In a closed system with only conservative forces acting, mechanical energy (sum of kinetic and potential energies) remains constant.

Power: The rate at which work is done or energy is transferred per unit time.