As a person pushes a box across a floor, the energy from the person’s moving arm is transferred to the box, and the box and the floor become warm. During this process, what happens to energy?

It is increased.
It is conserved.
It is decreased.
It is created.

1 answer

During the process of pushing the box across the floor, the energy is conserved. Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change forms. In this case, the energy from the person's moving arm is transferred to the box, giving it kinetic energy, while some energy is also transformed into thermal energy, warming both the box and the floor. Thus, while the energy is transformed into different forms, the total energy in the system remains the same, demonstrating the principle of conservation of energy.