Perpetual Motion Machines

of First Kind

By :Mirza Hyder Baig

Mechanical-A
1604-11-736-303

What is Perpetual Motion?

Perpetual Motion
Describes HYPOTHETICAL MACHINES that
operate or produce useful work indefinitely &,
more generally, hypothetical machines that produce

more work or energy than they consume,

whether they might operate indefinitely or not.
There is undisputed scientific consensus that

Perpetual motion would violate

st
nd
either the 1 Law or the 2 Law
of Thermodynamics, or both!

Perpetual Motion
Describes a theoretical machine that, without
any losses due to friction or other forms of
dissipation of energy, would continue to operate
indefinitely at the same rate without any
external energy being applied to it.
Machines which comply with both the 1st & 2nd
Laws of Thermodynamics but access energy
from obscure sources are sometimes referred to as
Perpetual Motion machines, although they do
not meet the standard criteria for the name.

Classification of Perpetual
Motion Machines!
1. Perpetual Motion
Machine of the 1st Kind
2. Perpetual Motion
Machine of the 2nd Kind
3. Perpetual Motion
Machine of the 3rd Kind

The 1st Kind

A perpetual motion machine of the first kind
produces work without the input of energy.

It thus violates the 1st Law of Thermodynamics:

the Law of conservation of energy.

The law of conservation of energy is an empirical

law of physics. It states that the total amount of
energy in an isolated system remains constant over.
A consequence of this law is that energy can neither
be created nor destroyed: it can only be transformed
from one state to another.
So,

It is clearly impossible for a machine to do

the work infinitely without consuming energy.
5

Examples of the 1st Kind of

Perpetual Motion Machine
The Overbalanced Wheel
The Float Belt
The Capillary Bowl

Overbalanced Wheel

The "Overbalanced Wheel".

It was thought that the metal

balls on the right side would
turn the wheel because of the
longer lever arm.
But! Since the left side had
more balls than the right side,
the torque was balanced and
the perpetual movement could
not be achieved.

Overbalanced Wheel

The Float Belt

The yellow blocks indicate

floaters. It was thought that

the floaters would rise
through the liquid and turn
the belt.
However pushing the
floaters into the water at the
bottom would require more
energy than the floating
could generate!

Perpetual Motion: Float Belt

Hollow balls float up through water, only to be
pulled back down as they descend in air.

Perpetual Motion: Float Belt

Why doesn't this work?

1. There is no way to push the balls in at the bottom
without losing water.
2. Pushing the balls in at the bottom will take at least
as much energy as gained from the balls floating up
and the falling down.
3. This will work only so long as the water is cooler
than the ping pong balls.
4. A team at Brookhaven is now nearing break-even
energy for device that works on the same principle .

Perpetual Motion: Float Belt

Why it doesn't work:

2. Pushing the balls in at the bottom will take at least
as much energy as gained from the balls floating up
and the falling down.

The Capillary Bowl

The "Capillary Bowl". It was

thought that the capillary

action would keep the water
flowing in the tube.
But since the cohesion force
that draws the liquid up the
tube in the first place holds
the droplet from releasing into
the bowl, the flow is not
perpetual.

Capillary Bowl
It was thought that the capillary action would keep the water flowing
in the tube, but since the cohesion force that draws the liquid up the
tube in first place holds the droplet from releasing into the bowl, the
flow is not perpetual.

The Second Law of

Thermodynamics

It is impossible to extract

an amount of heat QH from

a hot reservoir and use it all
to do work.

Some amount of heat QC

must be exhausted to a cold

reservoir. This precludes a
perfect heat engine.

Perpetual Motion Machine: Second Kind

This type of perpetual motion machine uses heat as a

power source directly and continuously, without the
flow of heat to a sink. This violates the second law of
thermodynamics.
2nd Law: "Heat (macroscopically) cannot flow
spontaneously from a material at lower temperature
to a material at higher temperature."

The second kind

A perpetual motion machine of the second kind is a

machine which spontaneously converts thermal energy
into mechanical work. When the thermal energy is
equivalent to the work done, this does not violate the
law of conservation of energy. However it does violate
the more subtle second law of thermodynamics.
The signature of a perpetual motion machine of the
second kind is that there is only one heat reservoir
involved, which is being spontaneously cooled without
involving a transfer of heat to a cooler reservoir. This
conversion of heat into useful work, without any side
effect, is impossible, according to the second law of
thermodynamics.

Perpetual Motion Machine: Third Kind

This type of perpetual motion machine relies on

eliminating friction. Technically, this is not so much
an energy generating machine so much as an energy
storage device.
It is not possible to move with zero friction, so
although low friction devices are real, zero friction
devices are not.

 A perpetual motion machine of the third

kind, is usually (but not always) defined as
one that completely eliminates friction and
other dissipative forces, to maintain motion
forever. This cant happen because it is
impossible for dissipation to reach 100%.

 Although a perpetual motion machine

is impossible , people still attempt to
improve their way to use energy.
We try to decrease the energy wasted
during the processes of energy
transaction and transportation so that
we can use it more effectively.

You Cant Patent Perpetual Motion

Machines Because They Would Violate the
1st and/or the 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics

Why it cant happen

A perpetual motion machine violates the law of
conservation of energy or the second law of
thermodynamics or both.
A perpetual motion machine of the first kind produces
energy from nothing, giving the user unlimited 'free'
energy. It thus violates the law of conservation of
energy.
A perpetual motion machine of the second kind is a
machine which spontaneously converts thermal energy
into mechanical work. Since only one single heat
reservoir is involved that is being spontaneously
cooled without involving a transfer of heat to a cooler
reservoir it violates the second law of
thermodynamics.

Perpetual Motion Machine:

Useful Thought Experiments

At least two classic thought experiments seem to

create perpetual motion machines.
Maxwell's Demon
Brownian Rachet Wheel

Perpetual Motion: Brownian Ratchet Wheel

Perpetual Motion: Brownian Ratchet Wheel

A ratchet wheel with cogs has a paw that allows it only
to rotate in one direction. Random brownian motion of
the air molecules strike the wheel, sometimes causing
enough motion so that it clicks forward one cog. The
paw prevents it from even clicking back. Is the slow
rotation of the wheel perpetual motion?
1. Yes, you've done it!
2. No.
3. It depends in how many dimensions the paw can
move.

Perpetual Motion: Brownian Ratchet Wheel

No. The wheel will only rotate as expected when

the the ratchet and paw are significantly colder than
the surrounding air or the heat bath. Then the
device works by tapping into the heat flowing from
the heat bath to the wheel.
When everything is the same temperature, the paw
may have its own Brownian motion and will allow
the wheel to go in either direction.

Perpetual Motion: Magnetic Tower

Balls are pulled up a ramp by a powerful permanent
magnet but then drop through a hole at the top,
returning them to their original position.

Perpetual Motion: Magnetic Tower

Why doesn't this work?
1. Any magnet powerful enough to pull the balls up the
ramp would be powerful enough to keep them from
dropping through the hole.
2. The rolling ball would at first be attracted to the magnet,
but after it rolled its polarity would reverse and it would then
be repelled from the magnet.
3. The system works, but there is no way to extract power.
4. The electric companies kill anyone who gets too close to
making this work to protect the profit of their investors.

Perpetual Motion: Magnetic Tower

Why it doesn't work:

1. Any magnet powerful enough to pull the balls up
the ramp would be powerful enough to keep them
from dropping through the hole.

Perpetual Motion: Conservative Forces

A conservative force creates work on a particle that is

independent of the path taken. Therefore, paths that
return to their starting point can gain no work -- no
energy. Therefore, a conservative force field cannot be
used to create a perpetual motion machine that
generates energy.
Examples of conservative force field include
Newtonian gravitational force and Coulomb electric
force.

Perpetual Motion Machines: The US Patent Office

Many people try to patent their own perpetual

motion machines. The US Patent office will no
longer grant patents to machines that it feels are
perpetual motion power generators, without a
working model.
Some people try to create machines so complex that
no one could determine their efficiency without such
a model.

Perpetual Motion Machines: Advice

If you have created a true perpetual motion machine

from which you create free energy, please do not
hold press conferences and tell everyone. Please
start creating power from your machine and selling
it. The electric company MUST buy it, and you can
make a fortune.