Perpetual Motion Machine

Many inventors dream of perpetual motion machines, but they are an impossible dream according to the laws of Thermodynamics.

Imagine a device that uses an electric motor to turn a wheel. This wheel in turn runs an electric generator to generate the electricity. The electricity can be used to power a house as well as the electric motor turning the wheel. Once this device is set in motion, it will continue to run forever because it supplies its own electricity as well as creates enough electricity to run a house. No more electric bills! Because this device once set in motion, would never stop. Such a device is called a perpetual motion machine. Many would-be inventors have dreamed of building a perpetual motion machine, but none have succeeded. Enough of these devices could run a city or the entire world. The inventor of such a device could solve the whole world’s energy crisis. Selling this device would make its inventor rich enough to laugh at Warren Buffet, Ambani and Bill Gates’ poverty.

Sounds too good to be true? It is!

 

First Law of Thermodynamics The first law of thermodynamics is the law of conservation of energy applied to heat engines. It states that the work output from an engine cannot exceed the energy input. The perpetual motion machine described above violates the first law of thermodynamics. The generator portion generates enough electricity to run other devices as well as power the generator. Hence once this perpetual motion machine is set in motion, it produces useful work without any energy input. Energy is being created from nothing. Free work output with no energy input violates the first law of thermodynamics. Perpetual machines described above are the Perpetual Motion Machines of the First Kind. Perpetual Motion Machines of the Second Kind The first law forbids perpetual motion machine that creates extra energy, but imagine disconnecting the portion of the machine that powers the house. The motor powers a generator which supplies the electricity needed to run the motor. Such a machine would not supply free energy, but once set in motion it would still continue to run forever. The inventor of such a machine would not make untold riches by solving the world’s energy problems. It might, however, be possible to make a living selling them as novelty devices. This second kind of perpetual motion machine does not violate the first law of thermodynamics. Is it possible? Second Law of Thermodynamics The second law of thermodynamics says that an engine or process of any type must always have an efficiency of less than 100%. A perpetual motion machine that uses a generator to power the motor that runs the generator requires both the generator and the motor to operate with 100% efficiency. This type of perpetual motion machine does not violate the first law of thermodynamics, but violates the second law of thermodynamics. It is a perpetual motion machine of the second kind because it violates the second law of thermodynamics. Not even the cleverest engineer or inventor can build a perpetual motion machine because it would violate either the first or the second law of thermodynamics, which are the fundamental laws of physics. (In other words you cannot add on to something by breaking its very base!) But who knows if we can invent metal rubber, vulcanized rubbers, powerful supercomputers, iPods®, mobiles and preventions and cures to numerous diseases, maybe, just maybe, we can invent a perpetual motion machine too.

 

You may now say that “Impossible is nothing” is not always valid!!