Conservation of energy

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/conservation-of-energy

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the modern relevance?Fundamental to nuclear physics, cosmology, and the design of all energy technologies
2. Why can't we build a machine that runs forever?A machine that keeps working without any new energy would break the rule that energy cannot be created or destroyed. Scientists say such a perpetual motion machine is impossible because energy must come from somewhere.
3. How does a car engine use energy?A car burns fuel, turning the chemical energy inside into heat and motion. The heat, sound, and moving parts all add up to the same amount of energy that was in the fuel.

Isolated System: A thermodynamic system completely sealed off from its environment, exchanging neither energy nor matter.
Mass-Energy Equivalence: The principle that mass and energy are interchangeable, described by Einstein's equation E=mc².
Noether's Theorem: A mathematical theorem linking conservation laws to continuous symmetries in physical systems.
Perpetual Motion Machine of the First Kind: A hypothetical machine that could produce work indefinitely without an external energy source.