Question #4e396

1 Answer
Nov 15, 2016

It gets transformed or conserved.

Explanation:

First of all, energy can never be "lost"; it is either transformed or conserved.

When a solid has no forces acting on it, the particles are stored, as potential energy. Now particles are always moving (even in 0#K# though the movement in a solid is so minuscule we consider it as 0).

However, if the solid is let's say, heated up, then the particles become transformed from potential to kinetic energy + potential energy. Eventually, the forces of attraction cannot hold the particles in place and the solid melts.