Lightning is the electric breakdown of air by strong electric fields, or a plasma, which causes an energy transfer from the electric field to heat, mechanical energy (the random motion of air molecules caused by the heat), and light. In physics and other sciences, energy (from the Greek e?e????, energos, "active, working")[1] is a scalar physical quantity used to describe a conserved property of objects and systems of objects. Several different forms, such as kinetic, potential, thermal, electromagnetic, chemical, nuclear, and mass have been defined to explain all known natural phenomena. Energy may be transformed from one form to another, but it is never created or destroyed. This principle, the conservation of energy, was first postulated in the early 19th century, and applies to any isolated system. According to Noether's theorem, the conservation of energy is a consequence of the fact that the laws of physics do not change over time.[2] Although the total energy of a system does not change with time, its value may depend on the frame of reference. For example, a passenger in an airplane has zero kinetic energy relative to the airplane, but nonzero kinetic energy relative to the earth.