What does the Law of Conservation of Energy state?

• A. Energy can be created from nothing
• B. Energy is equal to mass times velocity squared
• C. Energy always increases
• D. Energy cannot be created or destroyed

Answer: (D)

Energy in a closed system stays with you, even if it changes form. The total amount of energy doesn’t vanish or appear out of nowhere; it can shift between kinds like kinetic energy from motion, potential energy from height, chemical energy, heat, sound, or deformation energy, but the sum of all these forms remains constant. In vehicle rescues or crashes, you can see this as the moving car’s kinetic energy turning into damage, heat, and sound, with the total energy before the event equaling the total after, just in different forms. The other ideas either treat a single form of energy as the whole picture, imply energy can be created from nothing, or claim energy always grows, which doesn’t happen. So the principle you’re testing is that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it may be transformed or transferred.