[Polybius]

I had the same reaction to that paragraph. I don't think any matter is destroyed when a battery releases energy or when gasoline burns. But I'm not a physicist.

When you burn gasoline, matter is not destroyed but chemical bonds are altered.

For any particular chemical bond, say the covalent bond between hydrogen and oxygen, the amount of energy it takes to break that bond is exactly the same as the amount of energy released when the bond is formed. This value is called the bond energy.

[SlowBoat407]

For any particular chemical bond, say the covalent bond between hydrogen and oxygen, the amount of energy it takes to break that bond is exactly the same as the amount of energy released when the bond is formed. This value is called the bond energy.

Bond... Covalent Bond