| Energy:
Energy for Free
Issue
Perpetual
Motion
Even
though the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics have been with us
for
almost 150 years, people still are interested in machines that can
seemingly
violate them. These machines are labeled perpetual motion
devices.
A perpetual motion machine is a device that will continue to operate
indefinitely
without any external applied energy. This can only be done for a
machine if one or both of these laws are violated. For instance,
suppose that somebody built a machine that involved motion that had no
drag or friction in its operation. If this were the case, then
the
device would continue to move indefinitely as long as it did not
attempt
to output any energy to an external device. With the few
exceptions
of simplified scenarios that do not involve any type of internal energy
transfer (ex. a block sliding across a level slick surface), this
device
would violate the Second Law since any internal energy transfers would
lose usable energy and thus deplete the available energy for motion of
the device.
Another
way to have a perpetual motion device would be to build a machine that
was able to generate its own energy. While this clearly violates
the First Law, it has not stopped people over the years from proposing
various schemes for doing so. Many of these attempts have
involved
either gyroscopes or magnets because of their unique properties; all of
them have proved to be non-workable. A brief history of some of
these
devices can be found at the following websites.
"Novel"
Forms of Energy
Today, most claims
of a device that
will run indefinitely use a novel energy source that has been
undiscovored
by modern science to power it. This allows the inventor to get
around
the violation of the First Law of Thermodynamics since energy is being
conserved with such a system, albeit from a source that might be
undetectable.
The ubiquitousness of the Internet allows us to investigate the claims
of many of these devices, as the inventors try to sell their
products.
These websites show a great diversity, from the mystical to the overly
technical, from the Mom-and-Pop outfits to the professional company
with
large research space. Below, you will find links to the websites
that describe several of these devices.
While the technical discussion of how
these devices work might be beyond your ability to analyze, I would
like
for you to read through these websites, paying particular attention to
the way in which inventors discuss their machine, its relevance to the
rest of the world, and to any "forces" that might be trying to keep
their
invention from reaching the general population. After having read
through
the sites, answer the following questions:
-
Is there any information about these
inventions that shows that they have been investigated by a trustworthy
outside party as to the validity of there claims? If not, do they
discuss
why this has not occured?
-
Do any of the inventions seem more plausible
than the others? If not, why not? If so, why do you think that they are
more plausible?
-
Most oil/gas and electrical companies
are diversified into other fields of energy. For instance, Solarex, one
of the largest manufacturer of solar panels, is owned by BP/Amoco. What
these companies are always looking for is a way to sell energy to the
public
cheaper than their competitors. By diversifying into other energy
fields,
companies are making sure that they will survive into the future no
matter
what source of energy is the cheapest. Given these statements, do you
think
that it is likely any source of cheap energy would stay hidden too long
before one of these large companies started using it? What would this
mean
about any type of conspiracy by the large oil companies to silence
these
inventions if they worked?
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