Energy Transfer

energy transfer, the change of energy from one form to another. According to the first law of thermodynamics, energy can be neither created nor destroyed; in other words, the total energy of the universe remains constant. For example, when a block slides down a slope, the potential energy of the block sitting at the top of the slope is converted to the kinetic energy of the block’s motion. When friction slows the block to a stop, the kinetic energy is converted to thermal energy. Energy is not created or destroyed but merely changes forms, being transferred from potential to kinetic to thermal energy.