Why can't we create or destroy energy?
Energy's Forever Costume
Why can't we create or destroy energy?
Here is one of the strictest rules the universe has ever made, and it never bends, not even a little: you cannot make brand-new energy out of nothing, and you cannot make energy vanish into nothing. You can only ever move it around or change its outfit. Scientists call this the conservation of energy, which is a fancy way of saying the universe is a very careful accountant.
So what even is energy? Think of it as the universe's allowance — the stuff that lets things happen. A rolling ball has it. A hot cup of tea has it. A stretched rubber band, a battery, a sunbeam, a yawning stomach about to eat lunch — all of them are holding energy, just in different forms.
