CAN A MACHINE GENERATE THE ENERGY IT NEEDS TO WORK ON? WHY PERPETUAL MACHINES DON’T EVER WORK!!

 by 

    Dhruva S. Banavara 


Now, first, the basics. What is a Perpetual Machine? Basically, a Perpetual Machine is a machine or a body which produces the energy it requires to run.

Early Designs

In about 1159 A.D., an Indian Mathematician named Bhaskara the learned proposed an idea for a Perpetual Machine, In which, he described of a wheel in which there were reservoirs filled with mercury in such a way that one side of the wheel was more heavier than the other. He said, this overbalance would keep the wheel moving, forever.

Now, ever wondered about a fan which generated the wind it needed to run, or, a light bulb connected to a windmill that generated the amount of electricity that was required to run the bulb, These ideas were pondered upon since time immemorial.

Many even proposed designs. But the Sad part is that, they never work… Here’s why:-

The main problem with perpetual machines, is that most of them violate one or more laws of Thermodynamics, the branch of Physics that deals with Energy and its behavior.

Now, let’s look into this in detail

The first law of Thermodynamics states  that Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed. This law cancels out any useful perpetual machine right away. For which we need more energy produced that utilized, which is impossible. Nothing would be left for other uses.

Now, what if we approach this in a different way, What if we just wanted to keep the Machine moving?

It turns out that, this too won’t work. That’s because of the second law of Thermodynamics.

This law states that Energy tends to spread out in different directions by friction or heat.

See, any machine will have movable working parts, so, they will generate miniscule amounts of heat and friction, So, over time the machine will gradually stop working…

Now, Coming to the Bhaskara’s wheel

This one will also not work. This is because of the overbalance; the centre of its mass will also shift. With a low centre of mass, it will sway like a pendulum and Stop.

 

CONCLUSION

So, now you’ve seen why Perpetual Machines won’t work. 

But, all hope isn’t lost, there is still a lot we don’t understand about our universe, One day we might discover something which may force us to rewrite the laws of thermodynamics.

So, never stop thinking

Hope you liked this article☺

 

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