Conservation of Energy

Conservation of energy is not all about turning off the computer when you are not using it. Energy is not created or destroyed, it just changes forms. Energy is converted in changing from potential energy (height of a box) to kinetic energy (motion toward your toe) to sound energy (Wham, OUCH) to work on your toe (reshaping it and doing damage to it).

Example: As a car falls from a cliff, its potential energy is turned into kinetic energy as it falls. If it starts with 100,000 Joules at the top of the cliff, when it has fallen 25 meters of the 100 meter height, the car has 25,000 joules of kinetic energy and 75,000 joules of gravitational potential energy. Halfway down, the car has 50,000 joules of kinetic energy and 50,000 joules of potential energy.  75 meters down, the car has 75,000 joules of kinetic energy and 25,000 joules of potential energy. Right before the car smashes on the ground, all of the car's 100,000 joules of energy are kinetic energy. At all points in its path, the car's total energy is the same. The GPE + KE = 100,000 joules at all times.