The Most Incredible Attempts at Perpetual Motion Machines

Those pesky "law of physics" haven't stopped us from trying to invent perpetual motion machines for hundreds of years. Most attempts may be laughable, but these designs are quite impressive.
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#PerpetualMotionMachines #sideprojects

[@h.a.9880]

It is said that the hardest part about building a perpetual motion machine is figuring out where to hide the battery.

[@Bergamot88]

Just hide it in the 4” thick base of the machine

[@DubiousFIN]

Damn, he hid the whole atmosphere as the battery.

[@DrJams]

Wireless electricity

[@davidsucesso2419]

😆

[@Kink-Panther]

You stole that from Ramzy video lol

[@mikeg7845]

While definitely not a perpetual motion machine, the Elektro Dumper (45 ton dump truck with a 600 kWh battery), is an interesting parallel technology. It is the world's largest EV and it recharges itself during operations. Its designers identified a use case that leveraged the EVs regenerative braking. The dump truck, at 45 tons empty, ascends a 13-percent grade and takes on 65 tons of ore. With more than double the weight going back down the hill, the regenerative braking system recaptures more than enough energy to refill the charge the eDumper used going up.

[@xlerb2286]

That is clever. Make that ore pay for the privilege of being moved to a lower elevation. My 9th grade physics teacher would approve. 😉

[@xX1GuNNy1Xx]

That’s actually really cool.

[@nicholascurran1734]

Reminds me of a system of moving ore via ski-lift style cable system. Empty containers moved back up by the weight of filled containers moving down.

[@SD-tj5dh]

@@nicholascurran1734 that the one Tom Scott covered in his video?

[@casey5165]

It actually looses charge over time and is far from being the biggest electric vehicle but it is something like 90% efficient. Pretty good for a vehicle with insane rolling resistance. There is a train that might pull off 100%. Same method just better rolling resistance and a perfect location for it. The ropeways used to do the same thing and ran as long as there was weight in the descending buckets. It's an old idea we are just finding great new ways to use it. Battery technology might make the big dumper 100% sooner than later. That would open up a lot more use cases.

[@That1Knife]

My favorite things about perpetual motion machine attempts is it just shows how much you can conserve energy or use what you have to create as much energy as possible and is really powerful in that way.

[@HaydenX]

I will say that the pursuit of perpetual motion, much as the pursuit of phlogiston, panacea, and the philosopher's stone, has been a good thing in the long run. While alchemy led to the development of chemistry, the pursuit of perpetual motion has led to discoveries in everything from machine milling techniques and lubrication to gear efficiency and photovoltaics. While the pursuit of perfection is a guaranteed failure, the pursuit itself is what holds the value.

[@sethaaronweaver]

"While the pursuit of perfection is a guaranteed failure, the pursuit itself is what holds the value." I love this! I don't know if it is a quote or you made it up, but I am going to use it.

[@chrisb.7787]

I see perpetual motion machines as lessons in efficiency rather than sources of energy. The closer you get to 100% efficiency the more convincing your perpetual motion machine becomes.

[@tcf70tyrannosapiensbonsai]

I absolutely agree!

[@glenneric1]

No kidding. And that doesn't even take into the fact that people want to take energy from these systems. That would require GREATER than 100% efficiency.

[@edsonluizbrasilfilho3840]

@@glenneric1 why greater than 100% efficiency? like a bike that uses no energy to spin the wheels keeps going forward indefinetely, it will go slower depending on the terrain friction but it's speed is subtracted only 1 time, so it can go forward forever, which would require infinity so to do this it must generate infinite energy with just 100% efficiency. If i am wrong please tell me because im curious

[@glenneric1]

@@edsonluizbrasilfilho3840 because a bike that does nothing but go forward is not actually doing any work. If it is going forward AND powering a light bulb then it is doing work. Whenever people talk about perpetual motion they usually also mention the phrase 'limitless energy' which implies they are trying to extract work from the process in addition to merely letting it 'perpetuate'

[@themonsterunderyourbed9408]

@@edsonluizbrasilfilho3840 Yeah, but try riding that bike. You'll need more than 100% efficiency.

[@natebardwell]

I love the fact that a potential huge discovery in battery technology is hindered by the simple fact that nobody wants to stop the record run.

[@NeverDieAloneMusic]

By the time it stops, we might be out of fossil fuels and fully on renewables. (if we don't blow ourselves up that is)

[@pegasBaO23]

They gotta know how huge of a discovery it is, beforehand

[@godsinbox]

Its like perpetual hiccoughing, you dont want to stop it in case its a record but you want to murder them all the same

[@FedericoFavaro]

To be honest I think it's quite idiotic lol I understand wanting to see how long it keeps going for, but if that machinery actually holds the key to making batteries that could last hundreds of years, maybe it would be worth it to examine the thing now rather than having to wait for potentially hundreds of years... Also considering that having more efficient energy would not be a terrible idea in this period of time

[@larkefedifero]

Could the batteries potentially be nuclear with a very long half-life? I know it would be before such technology was discovered, but perhaps Watkins and Hill stumbled upon a new radioactive element and at least suspected that it was a "new and different" element with *strange* "new and different" properties and used the molten sulfur to cover it up. Perhaps they tried to repeat the effects of the bell but were unable to do so and eventually just sold the bell. I dunno - just conjecture on my part! In any case - I'd say that they "virtually" cracked the perpetual motion riddle and that the Oxford Electric Bell is a "virtual" perpetual motion machine! Pretty d%mn incredible. 🙂

[@robotman3474]

You forgot to start the video with “ hey Micheal here”

[@6F6G]

I have an old physics textbook, the 1892 edition of Elementary Lessons in Electricity and Magnetism by Silvanus Thompson. In a chapter describing some of the batteries in use at the time it mentions that the Clarendon laboratory bell had been ringing for over forty years and it is powered by a Zamboni dry pile battery. This is on pages 149-150 of the book.

[@hillaryclinton1314]

Any chance you could scan the book and distribute it?

[@CeriusDeluge]

I have been working on a perpetual motion machine since I was 11. The funny thing is I can't seem to stop.

[@cunicularium5424]

So in other words you are the perpetual motion machine 😂

[@johnchristmas7522]

Your machine, what ever you build, like all machines is WEAR.

[@eekee6034]

You are a rarity amongst perpetual motion inventors: you have discovered the true meaning of the term! XD

[@gosucab944]

Eh you will stop one day or the other so you aren't one either ;)

[@johndeljoy8071]

If you last 182+ years consider yourself succesfull :D

[@inthefade]

I feel like attempting a perpetual motion machine is a rite of passage for any nerd. My friends and I did when we were 11, and it was based on siphoning water into a series of sealed containers and then trying to have the final container refill the first one. It was actually a really great lesson in the futility of the exercise for us. We worked so hard on it all weekend trying to solve all the issues we encountered, but each solution created a new problem of course. We gave up and played video games.

[@Sideprojects]

I spent hours trying to trick the program “Crocodile Clips” into making one. Never worked, but I did have some pretty incredible flywheels on those beasts.

[@angelacarville3442]

Trying is how you learn! It's not futile to experiment and come away with a negative result. It's just one more datum to wield.

[@matthewyabsley]

I think you became a part in the perpetual motion machine, with the planet growing more and more of you, permanently attempting the futile motion, over and over again. Until someone points out the sun is ultimately the battery in this perpetual machine...

[@rgw5991]

awesome!!

[@proto-geek248]

😴

[@bertdemeulemeester]

Simon himself is a prime example of something perpetual. The perpetual creation of channels😂

[@billhacks]

His external source is bamboo underwear, waterproof shoes, and slimy green vitamin drinks.

[@antarcticorb9197]

And one helluva annoying voice.

[@albachera90albachera51]

Is this guy the same i see on other channels? Is he an terminator(ai) ai as a pirate will say😂

[@mumujibirb]

Note: According to Veproject1, the channel description does say that the models are motorised. " My name is VALERIY IVANOV, I do models. You like them. Most of you. This channel is created for the popularization of science. I made all the machines that you see here as an educational tool. Old and new concepts of working Perpetual Motion Machines (PMM). Medieval engineering inventions. Kinetic Art objects. Models of Da Vinci inventions. Marble machines. My models of PMMs are motorized versions that were built to illustrate how they were supposed to work in the minds of Inventors. We all miss something that goes beyond the usual scientific explanations. Fundamental Science, Physics Laws and boring Laws of Thermodynamics bring the ‘flight’ of Inventors' ideas to land. Growing Technology … We live in an age of consumption. But many of us are still dreaming and believe that the era of creativity has not gone. My PMM models are built for them. I'd like to inspire you by demonstrating unworkable PMMs that have been designed centuries ago as well as recent ideas.my work" -Veproject1

[@lazylazerrsp8781]

I think the most fascinating thing about perpetual motion machines is that although impossible, anything that comes close eventually reveals itself to be running on some sort of external source. Meaning eventually someone will make one again and again until we discover what energy is being inputted. If we go far enough we'd probably create a machine that runs on the ever increasingly obscure forms of energy. A radiometer runs on infared radiation but it was still an amazing discovery from a seemingly perpetual machine, one by accident. Basically any perpetual machine ends up as a measuring device for energy.

[@whitekaren7742]

there would never be a real one on here !! they wouldn't allow it ! they would buy them up like they did all of the rest !! only unworking models on here !!

[@Jairjax]

That's a cool idea lol

[@egglion7931]

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

[@NoConsequenc3]

@@egglion7931 any sufficiently dumb enough person can be convinced a machine is magical

[@Fitzgibbon299]

​@@NoConsequenc3Any sufficiently crude magic is indistinguishable from technology.

[@devanman7920]

I think it's more impressive how this guy can perpetually keep hosting new channels.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

It's the Enron of channels

[@avidadolares]

Its the speech affectation.

[@lonnpton5239]

@@avidadolares ?

[@terryvalentine369]

Kudos man, I think you’ve discovered perpetuality. !!!!!! 🤣

[@enigmalfidelity]

Well, when one loses credibility through simple google searches, you tend to move a lot

[@DonLee1980]

one of my favorite engineering works is the Jaeger LeCoutre table clock, which uses the difference in temperatures to wind up tension for the clock. just 1 degree difference is enough for it to run for a day. That means the difference of night and day temperatures is enough to make it run in perpetual... until years down the road it needs a service.

[@CaskStrength777]

Yes! Just commented same, I have one, just saw this comment

[@TheCraigy83]

@@CaskStrength777 Is it not practical to scale up ?

[@user-lv7ph7hs7l]

You can buy the first type of clock in Switzerland. A compressible chamber holds a temperature sensitive gas resting against a large spring, winding the clock. 1c in temp difference makes them run for a day. An indoor solar and gravity powered clock. Genius, especially for 1850s.

[@GamerGuyplays]

In high School, my friend had this calculator that worked for a few months without batterys. In early march, the batterys accidentaly fell out of the device, and we ended up throwing them out due to rust, surprisingly though, it kept running. It didn't have a solar power cell, like many calculators do, my guess is that it had a weird slow capacitor, but even then, it would be incredible, considering it was allways powered on up until late december.

[@brennanmercker5084]

A lot of calculators, especially graphing calculators, contain a backup battery

[@renakunisaki]

@@brennanmercker5084 that wouldn't be enough to power it though? Only to keep the memory alive.

[@riceboiii2937]

@@renakunisaki if its a calculator for school then it probably powers itself of salty tears

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

I'd say that, in addition to that marvelous calculator, your friend had found that other essential requirement - a group of very gullible mates! 😉

[@TheDJLionman]

@@theoztreecrasher2647 or maybe it did have a solar cell that just didnt look like one since its basically a tiny black square that might even be matte finish.

[@stephenashford9006]

It's always more beneficial when things are physically explained than the typical "it won't work because physics"

[@TheDrexxus]

Some things are so obvious and covered so frequently that it just gets exhausting to hear about, talk about, and explain to people. The correct response to anyone, in any circumstance, saying they have designed a perpetual motion machine is to roll your eyes and walk away and not to speak to them ever again as to avoid the topic of conversation drifting back to their fantastical wishes that defy reality.

[@codegeek98]

Yeah, the sponge thing was one I'd never heard of before, yet had the least satisfying debunk

[@spongerobert]

Yeah but the answer to perpetual motion is always "because physics." Even earth will eventually stop spinning. If you can maybe make a thing that moves for 10 000 years, that can almost be classified as perpetual motion because who's going to argue but then also you want to attach a load at some point so you can make that motion do some work for you and that's where it will always fall flat. The device might be so perfectly balanced and engineered that it can teeter back and forth or spin or whatever but then it's always: "Now we just need to make it 10x bigger and it'll generate free electricity" but that's not how scale really works. Eventually you get tired of explaining what is essentially the same concept over and over again and that's when you start to say "because physics"

[@nibiruofficial4463]

Perpetual engine is actually exists. Its basically atmosphere check my latest video

[@codegeek98]

@@nibiruofficial4463 An "atmospheric engine" is just a heat engine with the cold tank in time instead of space. In fact, that's what the *first example in this video* was... The second law isn't broken if your engine needs cool night air or a cold chamber to offgas heat into.

[@YouTubeAccount-wx6yr]

I thought I clicked a vsauce video

[@AngryGamer1224]

yeah you're not the only one

[@CamelSmokes23]

I still respect those that attempt such a machine. I know it's impossible, they (hopefully) know it's impossible, but the lengths they go to are crazy, and the efficiency of some of these machines is truly amazing. Maybe the real goal is just getting as close to 100% as possible while realizing we will never surpass it.

[@BigBrofiftyacre]

Go back 500 years show someone a modern phone ask if it will ever be possible

[@andrewdavies7720]

It's totally possible to have machines , based in fluid dynamics, , that have such low frictional losses that they only need generate a small amount of energy to keep the fluid moving. This energy can be found by stimulating piezo-electric crystals in the fluid flow, which exerts pressure change on the crystal. Once the fluid is at speed, it only takes a small amount of energy to keep it going that fast, and the size (and therefore potential pressure differences) of the vessel can be scaled up. More energy out than in, thanks to piezoelectricity.

[@OleJanssen]

I find those devices that aren't actual perpetual motion machines but rather take their energy from unconventional sources like the Beverly Clock even more interesting than proper perpetual motion devices.

[@left4twenty]

there's totally an alternate reality right now where they just skipped fossil fuels and everything is running off energy gradients and some human power to kickstart

[@markbrown9765]

If you don't already know about this and are interested in going down a pretty fascinating rabbit hole check out the Stirling engine.

[@MrT------5743]

Since there is no "proper perpetual motion devices', anything and everything is more interesting than nothing.

[@Gandhi_Physique]

@@MrT------5743 May be odd, but I find "nothing" very interesting

[@Xezlec]

I agree! Osmotic power is my all-time favorite weird energy source. It generates power just from the increase in entropy when you let salt diffuse from salty water into fresh water. There is at least one working power plant right now, in Norway!

[@Thesnakerox]

I think it'd be cool to see more attempts at "Near-perpetual" motion machines. Even though perpetual motion is physically impossible, I still wonder what people could do to squeeze as much efficiency as possible out of a system...

[@JeffBilkins]

And there is always a chance someone might (accidentally) figure out how to tap energy from some physics effect. Like the atmospheric clock from the video was pretty clever, makes you wonder how far people got with other sources.

[@spencer1980]

No it's a fun design problem. We could even do an annual design competition for it.

[@D1GItAL_CVTS]

I feel like that is already a niche in the already niche kinetic sculpture culture. On an unrelated note, if you managed to actually parse that fucking sentence, I salute you, cos just writing it made me feel like I'm having an actual stroke

[@spencer1980]

@@D1GItAL_CVTS spaces where art and engineering intersect are lovely.

[@r1nger81]

They make cool desk toys...

[@cheekyb71]

As a New Zealander having watched a fair bit of your content, seeing a mention of us was quite thrilling, followed up immediately with a cackle at your pronunciation of "Otago"! Thanks Simon! (Oh tah go)

[@Mina265]

I live in Otago and I just laughed as he butchered the pronunciation 😂😂

[@cheekyb71]

@@Mina265 I've just listened to one of his Decoding The Unknown podcasts and he pronounced Whanganui as "wahn gah noo" - too funny!!

[@Mina265]

😭😭😭😭😭😭😂😂@@cheekyb71

[@johno9507]

​@@Mina265 To be fair, Kiwis butcher the English language...a far cry from the heavily tones of the angelic Aussie accent. 😉🇦🇺

[@huepix]

​@@johno9507 Tu rught Guttuh luv thu kuwu uccunt

[@chillbro1010]

I always remember what my teacher told us, If someone tells you that an object makes more energy than you put into it that you either have a liar or you have a bomb and either way you should run away.

[@usonumabeach300]

In 9th grade I tried to design a perpetual energy electricity generator lol. It was based around heating coils that would heat and evaporate water up to a cooling area, on the way up the gases would spin turbines to generate electricity for the heating coils, and once the vapor cooled and turned back into water it would run down back to the heating coils at the bottom, also spinning turbines on the way down to also generate electricity for the coils. Ideally it would've produced an electricity surplus to charge a battery to draw power from. Ah to be that naive again

[@biggo4637]

If you reached near-perfect efficiency you would be harvesting energy from the earth's gravity well ?.?

[@rubiconnn]

I remember as a child getting the idea to use magnets to rotate a metal shaft to get rotational power. I had just reinvented a crappy electric motor lol.

[@robot336]

THE INFINITY TRAIN IN AUSTRALIA = AN IRON ORE TRAIN THAT CHARGE'S BATTERIES WHILE IT ROLL'S DOWN HILL TO A PORT UNLOAD'S THEN DRIVE'S BACK TO THE MINE UNDER ELECTRIC POWER

[@kallewirsch2263]

@@biggo4637 Actually no. The energy gained by letting the water run down is exactly the same amount of energy needed for raising the same mass of water (in the form of steam) up to the higher potential. We humans are just used to ignore some sort of energy transfers. Eg. If a machine makes some noise it can not be a perpetual motion machine, since generating noise takes energy too.

[@williamwingo4740]

"Ah, to be that naive again..." You could go into politics or journalism.

[@IMKINDOFABIGDEAL13]

My grandfather was working on this on and off his entire life. Him and my grandmother moved into a retirement community and when he passed away we found out that he had rented a shop space and was still working on magnetic perpetual motion. He had all kinds of very wild stuff in there he even had a small machinists lathe. The guy that rented the other side of the shop had an electric wheelchair chop shop lol 😂

[@glenneric1]

Same with me and my grandfather. Man he liked his magnets.

[@IMKINDOFABIGDEAL13]

@@glenneric1 lol yeah mine had all kinds of crazy shot in this hidden workshop.

[@ml.2770]

Too bad neither of them studied thermodynamics for a day. They could have saved a lifetime of wasted efforts.

[@bkane573]

Don’t confuse having a hobby with believing it.

[@kaldo8907]

I think if it uses magnets that counts as an outside source of energy. I have a magnetic "perpetual motion" machine I'd like to try to build some day, see if it at least works, even if it's not truly perpetual.

[@chlochlo_the_T_BAG]

a super easy way to debunk a perpetual motion machine is: the more complex it is, the more energy it costs to run. more complex usually means more mechanical parts, heavier weights, bigger contraptions. which also means more air friction, friction friction, harder to move, etc etc. therefore making it less resistant to entropy and more prone to general failure.

[@drsquiddo2249]

perpetual motion is impossible, but the goal of attaining it has the potential to create some incredibly low loss energy solutions

[@deividasb]

Very similar to the Beverly clock, well established swiss watch maker jaeger lecoultre made a table clock in the 1970s called the atmos vendome. It was said that the perpetual movement worked with a difference of about 1 degree Celsius and that the gas on the inside would Last for about 300 years. Pretty incredible stuff!

[@SirMorganFlint]

Not very sure (I can't remember where I read it), but I think the working principle of the Atmos clocks is atmospheric pressure variations, and not (maybe not only) temperature variations, hence the name "Atmos"

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

@@SirMorganFlint pv = nrt Alla same ting, M'lud! 😂😂😂

[@Torby4096]

In 5th grade the teacher showed us a Crook's radiometer. I was fascinated by spinning things. Then we went to our desks and read in the science book that photons bouncing off the silver side impart more momentum than photons being absorbed by the black side. Torby, who always made many mistakes on his work and often did not even turn it in, raised his hand. "But it spins the other way." Theteacher was not willing that Torby, of all people, would point out that the book was wrong. I wound up sent to the principal over that. I keep one in the window myself.

[@ZarHakkar]

Did you defend Torby and call the teacher's hypocrisy? Nice

[@Torby4096]

@@ZarHakkar I was Torby and none dared to defend him.

[@ZarHakkar]

@@Torby4096 I just read your username :(

[@Torby4096]

@@ZarHakkar hehe -- sometimes I switch to 3rd person. I know not why.

[@WhatIsSanity]

@@Torby4096 Ah yes I have also been kicked out of class for asking good questions. Most people are still petty children that never grew up, and all teachers are people so it stands to reason you will meet teachers that get stroppy and throw a temper tantrum when you say something to confuse or contradict them.

[@bigfoottoo2841]

I worked on NMR machines at a research university. The magnets stayed at field for decades without adding any additional energy. As much as 100 amps going around in circles in miles of superconductive wire. As long as the wire was kept at liquid helium temperature, no energy was lost. But a lot of energy went into liquidifing the helium. Now try an figure out how 100 amps of current is introduced into a magnet coil that is miles long with no break in the conductor. Hint: was not done by magnetic induction.

[@delburtphend6016]

You are correct. The side driving down in an accelerating flywheel can have the time of acceleration increased by having a large stack accelerate a large flywheel. The time of rise would be 2.47 seconds and the time of driving down would be 49.46 seconds. To recycle you only need 5 % of the motion. Ft = mv

[@adamhixon]

Turns out the "dry piles" in the oxford bell are actually gifts from friendly alien visitors. They contain two small fusion reactors and detailed instructions about their operation and construction. The aliens are very confused as to why we have failed to unwrap their gifts and usher in a new era for humanity.

[@grandstarstudiosYT]

Because we are stupid

[@TexstyleQuest]

The sad part is in a millennium when my descendants find your post and think you're a prophet

[@smartassforhire]

Anyone creating an perpetual motion machine would be killed by the energy industry. Because it would threaten their bottom lines. We have all been lied to for 150 years. We could have avoided oil all together starting back in 1880. Electric and steam cars existed then. But there was no money in it. Big oil. Money talks, bullshit walks. And the 'dry piles' might be radium. But I assume they used a geiger counter on it to see if it was radioactive...

[@defienduser1178]

ig hab is gewossen lol

[@jessematthews7294]

I can pnly assume your joking i cant stand the idiocy of believing all our advances in tech are more than human invention. Great imagination though.

[@marsupialdungbucket]

Reputable scientists also designed and built ‘perpetual motion’ machines which they knew wouldn’t work. This was to work out exactly why they didn’t work, occasionally producing useful or new understanding. I built a replica of the perpetual motion machine in a painting at Leeds University a few years ago. It was great fun and ended up giving a lecture on it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rn2unZ6qjtiCpLc The lecture explains the physics, history and background to perpetual motion machines and speculation on the one in the painting.

[@jamiebennett6354]

in my novels I had elves build an amusement park ride that is a perpetual motion machine, honestly, I can not see how this won't work, would you like a description of it

[@Xezlec]

@@jamiebennett6354 If you can describe it precisely enough, I ought to be able to explain the catch.

[@jamiebennett6354]

@@Xezlec simply put the riders get on a lift to the top of a small ferris wheel and boards a pod, there are 4 to 5 pods on this wheel (one side only) as the ride goes down at the bottom the pod will disconnect and at a slight angle by gravity rides a track to the next much larger Ferris wheel that it gets connected to (this is where the ride gets fun) because of the gear ratio the ride up is very fast, at the top, it gets disconnected again and glides down back onto the smaller Ferris wheel, so what we have is the gravitational weight of 4 to 5 pods at say including passengers 600 lbs each pod. going DOWN that will force the one pod UP to continue the ride, extra electricity is used to supply the elevator to get the rider onto the first Ferris wheel and entertainment lights

[@jamiebennett6354]

I estimated it would take 2 pods to get the one pod to the top of the second Ferris wheel and one pod to compensate for the gear friction and one pod just for friction overall which leaves one pod for electricity generation. ALL of this is energized by the earth's natural gravity (won't work in space of course)

[@tankimarkgraaf]

@@jamiebennett6354 I like the idea, but depending on how you connect the 2 ferris wheels there is either a problem with the distance the big ferris goes, or the smaller one. If you fix that then the extra 'distance' becomes less 'power', so you wouldnt be able to keep going. I think where your idea is slightly inaccurate is the understanding of how gears (or ferris wheels in this case) work. A smaller gear needs to turn more to move a bigger one (meaning the pods on the smaller and would have to go up before being able to be used going down) or if you connect the big one on one axel to a smaller one, more force would be required to turn the bigger one so there would be no net 'gain'

[@toobbeebopper]

I remember watching a documentary about PMM's and they interviewed a man who created a grooved track shaped into a circle and this track was on a pivot. A metal ball would roll along the track, tilting it back and forth, and be pulled across a gap in the track by a magnet, giving it enough energy to go around again and come back to the magnet. The thing was running for the whole interview and apparently it would run for weeks...

[@dragonmasterlangeweg7625]

neat. do you remember what it was called? I can't be certain because I don't know what its called, but It sounds like either an electromagnet and hidden battery to pull the ball across and then deactivating the electromagnet so the ball doesn't get held in place by the magnetic field or hidden mechanism to tilt the track.

[@toobbeebopper]

No, sorry. I watched it years ago and don't remember the title. @@dragonmasterlangeweg7625

[@danser_theplayer01]

Will they accept a patent for "I shit you not, this thing will run for centuries" machine?

[@macalmy6750]

The maddening thing about that see-saw balance is that the position of the balls are pretty much at all times opposite of where they would need to be to make it run. It is true that the center of mass is off center, but it's off center on the side that would prevent rather than cause motion, and you don't really need to have a physics degree or even have taken a year one course to see it.

[@Rudy97]

Yeah, the balls roll down and then somehow make the thingy pivot and lift them back up.

[@ARM0RP0WER]

@notfiveo ha

[@Kevin-dt9xm]

Exactly. The balls both go to the right, shifting the center of mass to the right, and for some reason this forces the LEFT side of the contraption down with all the force of a nuclear bomb. Its obviously being operated by some mechanism under/behind it.

[@Opus313]

Some might say that Simon is in perpetual motion with all his hosting duties on so many channels!

[@jiversteve]

Who let Clarkson in here?

[@Dr.RichardBanks]

​@@jiversteve GOLD 💀.

[@TechnocratiK]

I honestly thought this was Today I Found Out until I read this comment.

[@egauci1]

But Simon isn’t a closed system 😂

[@ronaldcuthbertson3495]

Perpetual hosting machine

[@grimgrahamch.4157]

Prepetual motion is more than just about free energy. It's about defying the nihilistic end of the universe. To stop entropy and ensure that the flame of existence never dies out.

[@ambienthangout]

I keep saying we don't need perpetual motion. We just need something that'll be running long after we're gone.

[@StumpfForFreedom]

The problem is that it cant do any additional work. A 100% efficient machine is only a little more useful than a 99.999% efficient one, but a 100.001% efficent machine would be utterly game breaking.

[@harrisonbergeron9764]

"Lisa, get in here! In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics" -- Homer Simpson.

[@MrRedeyedJedi]

I remember as a kid, my attempts of over unity. I used to have something called geomag. They were magnetic sticks and ball bearings that could be connected to create structures, my parents even got me glow in the dark ones once, which I was delighted at. I suspended a floating/spinning geometric shape. Ball bearing on a ball bearing, upside down and would put the magnetic sticks around the edge at an angle then one with an opposing magnetic pole by hand against them, which would cause the structure to spin, but it would always infuriate me how it would stop spinning, no matter what distance or angle I held the magnet at.

[@Necro-the-Pyro]

I remember geomags/supermags. I once made a contraption like what you're describing, combined with a knex machine powered by a wind up gravity motor that would shift the magnets around the edge, allowing the suspended shape to spin for over a week straight.

[@shujin7024]

what you are talking about with an electromagnet will be able to make it spin non stop ;D

[@Necro-the-Pyro]

@@shujin7024 yea but I was 12 and didn't have an electromagnet lol

[@shujin7024]

@@Necro-the-Pyro hahaha that's fair I was imagining the contraption in my head in this is what came out. I believe you can make one but I wouldn't know how probably a variable powersupply, iron core and copper wire.

[@adamplentl5588]

@@shujin7024 no, it will only make it spin as long as the electromagnet is powered and/or the equipment doesn't break down due to wear and tear. Definitely a finite limit.

[@Kyrinson]

Possibly the only true perpetual motion machine is the people racing to invent the first perpetual motion machine.

[@Zedonus0]

Alright, hear me out; the "dry battery" is actually powered by the Easter Bunny and not necessarily the alternating polarity discs. They caught the Easter Bunny, saw it was difficult to keep it detained and that it had been fighting back by kicking about for hours. They had a dry battery casing and it was just small enough to fit, so they had an idea. After finally managing to trap it inside and sealing it, they tried testing if it could produce energy from it and for how long. The battery wasn't really giving electrical power so much as much as the ringing sound. This is how the Energizer Bunny was born as the mascot of Energizer batteries since the secret was passed down by trusted friends.

[@Bluepeter62]

A smaller and better version of the Beverley clock is the Atmos by Jaeger-LeCoultre. Can still be ordered for a price around $ 5000. Only needs temperature changes of 2 C° or pressure changes of 5 hpa per day to run. It operates at the remarkably low frequence of 0.0333 Hz.

[@Vidar93]

@R D Yeah one of those could even help run a nuclear power plant.

[@Vidar93]

@R D I don't think you got the Simpsons reference I was making.

[@201hastings]

@@Vidar93 Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder

[@greentoke4589]

I've actually already invented a perpetual motion machine, now if I could just get this frictionless bearing to work.....🤔🙄💯

[@stefanpredl6849]

Extreme cold magnets or something

[@BadBrucey]

Keep at it buddy. I believe in you.

[@DespaceMan]

@@stefanpredl6849 Super conductor magnets

[@dikkie1000]

@@stefanpredl6849 Those would serve a second benefit, supercooled so it uses less power, but also to condensate the air and making it a vacuum so less air resistance.

[@UncertainPrinciple]

I feel that a discussion about entropy and the second law of thermodynamics is necessary to truly understand why such devices will never work. For those interested there are far more devious devices thought up that also wont work, but which are much harder to disprove, for example Maxwell's Demon.

[@TubeNotMe]

Maxwell's Demon was/is a theoretical thought experiment, and it has been pointed out that the Demon itself would require energy.

[@katofmine]

“The makingest part of perpetuating a hiding machine is battering the hard.” - Marylin Manson’s missing rib

[@VeteranVandal]

The fact that infinite gains would be achievable makes perpetual motion machines never die as a subject of interest. Making it their only real perpetuity...

[@Gandhi_Physique]

Yeah exactly. I know they can't exist.. but something in me tries to think about how it "could" be done.

[@turolretar]

We better think of how to extract energy from around us, I mean, there’s probably a lot out there. Also thinking about storing that energy goes hand in hand

[@Gandhi_Physique]

@@turolretar true energy storage is a massive issue we need to solve

[@notyourdad]

Maybe memes are the real perpetual motion machines.

[@Havron]

@@notyourdad The real perpetual motion machines were the friends we made along the way.

[@martinstallard2742]

0:58 the Beverly clock 3:12 Crookes radiometer 5:48 sponge conveyor belt 8:06 Oxford electric bell 10:42 see-saw balance

[@reamick]

That's Crookes radiometer, not barometer

[@martinstallard2742]

@@reamick thanks for spotting that

[@matthewwells2520]

Now if we can just combine the Bevery clock and the Oxford electric bell...and then find a way to draw power from them.

[@nailynntynette]

There is this thing called heros, and they do not all wear capes

[@dordly]

I don't think perpetual motion is impossible, we just don't have what's needed. At the same time, we'd likely never know if one was succesafully invented because every time we see someone make a cheap and efficient alternative to something such as power, they wind up dead just before they can tell anyone just how it works or get funding.

[@paulmaxwell8851]

Study physics and you will understand why perpetual motion is a myth. And the idea that successful inventers end up dead is just a paranoid conspiracy theory.

[@nunya_bizniz]

Please learn the basic laws of thermodynamics. Perpetual motion is impossible.

[@jBKht931]

There was a episode of Bonanza where Hoss was getting scammed by a perpetual motion "inventor" he had a heck of a time convincing his brother and Pa. Great episode.

[@davelowets]

The closest thing to perpetual motion is the number of KZbin channels Simon keeps coming up with.

[@Teh_Bean]

That clock is amazing. Perpetual or not, it is an extremely unique and interesting design.

[@keithhinke3277]

That Continuously ringing bell reminds me of something. I have a silver colored small metal box that has a telegraph key attached to it by a short insulated cable. When you push the key down it [the box] makes a LOUD buzzing sound. It was brought home by my brother about 65 years ago. It still amazes me, that after all this time it still works perfectly. I can't imagine a battery doing that, but it has to get power from somewhere. There is a grill in the box for what I assume is a speaker, maybe 2inchs in diameter. I wonder if that device could have one of those batteries in it. I have never tried to open it. But now I am more curious, although it's possible it might be dangerous to mess with it. But it has impressed me for all these years, never failing to work LOUDLY.

[@balrogfpv8638]

I one hundred percent thought you were vsauce

[@GiffysChannel]

While researching perpetual motion, I came across something even cooler. Copper wire will actually become saturated with electrons passively. If you then introduce a current and to push all the electrons out, your device will read as outputting more electricity than was put in. This could LOOK like perpetual motion but it's obviously not. However, you could think of it as free energy in as much as a solar panel is. I would certainly like to see this idea expanded upon.

[@Kevin-dt9xm]

Yep, its part of the reason for voltage spikes right when you turn a circuit on.

[@RobinHood-yk8og]

2 projects to look at... Ambient RF energy harvesting Atmospheric Ion Harvesting

[@rjflippo]

Wardenclyffe Tower holds the key

[@animeloveer97]

@@Kevin-dt9xm huh the more you know

[@thunderlifestudios]

Is this related to copper turning green?

[@pirobot668beta]

When you make your infernal machine, make two...one running clock-wise, one running counter clock-wise. Connect them together such that the rotation of one exactly cancels the rotation of the other. If both machines are working perfectly, there should be no movement in either of the machines. "But it isn't moving!" Says a doubting and cynical populace. "That's proof that it works!!" Says the crafty Inventor.

[@prabbit237]

What was missed is the longest-running "perpetual motion machine" (PMM) that we know of. It's been running for around 3+ BILLION years. Of course it's still not a closed system and thus is just like the clock in that if it was completely isolated, it'd eventually run down but where would we ever find a shell big enough to totally isolate the Earth to prove that the life on it has NOT really been breaking thermodynamics? (And yes, I realize we don't need to isolate a system to show it'd run down in such isolation. We have other ways to show that thermodynamics makes a PMM impossible.) Also the Beverly Clock would work fine in a vacuum. as long as it's truly airtight AND it's exposed to fluctuating radiation levels. Put it on the moon (and not in a perpetual shadow such as close to a pole) and the chamber will shrink during the lunar night and expand during the lunar day, thus winding the clock (although it may take larger swings in temp.) A gas in an airtight system will always exert more pressure on the walls of the container at temp X than at temp Y, where X>Y. The only difference is how fast it warms up and cools down when heated only by radiant heat (such as from the sun) vs conductive heat (such as from surrounding air.).

[@josephsmith3870]

I work in the physics department physics at the university of Otago and walk by that clock every day! I never knew that it was an attempt at a perpetual motion machine!

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

I like to imagine that a time traveler told them how to make that super battery but we as a species are so obsessed with seeing how far things can go that we didn't learn from it like the time traveler intended.

[@alexturnbackthearmy1907]

Hardly something that hard. It is just electromagnetism and if bell is in vacuum or near vacuum it can actually run for very very long time before batteries eventually degrade enough so bell would not have enough charge to push itself. But it is easily more then 90% efficient.

[@bh24x]

The oxford Bell isn't a perpetual motion machine that we can tell but most certainly is a great insanity engine. that thing ringing for hundreds of years would bring any immortal to the brink of madness, Let alone us mortals who have to endure it through our lifetimes. No wonder it's behind layers of glass.

[@MrWguts]

Tinnitus

[@chewinhard4456]

They forgot to install a snooze button 😂

[@peterlang777]

also the karpen pile.

[@adawg3032]

I think the only way to make an actual perpetual motion machine will involve superconductors and permanent magnets. That will be the closest one gets, because even permanent magnets aren’t permanent they just last a long time. It wouldn’t be able to power anything it would just move forever. High temp superconductors being more worked on and explored will be a big part of it.

[@joekelley5121]

The perpetual motion quest is the perfect example of when to quit a pursuit.

[@liamwinter4512]

I've seen two infinity engines in my life. Both were a hybrid of solar heat collectors and geothermally managed fluids. But as long as the sun came out, his house and ranch had power. When I asked if this was "perpetual motion" he said no, that his set up was just a clever heat engine. The fella who has this setup has to be in his late 80s by now or has passed away. I often wonder what other devices he came up with.

[@Mastermindyoung14]

Definitely clever, but definitely not perpetual motion. He's not in a closed system, he's using the power of the sun (like the clock with the diaphragm)

[@FreightmareFTW]

Repent and follow Jesus my friend! Repenting doesn't mean confessing your sins to others, but to stop doing them altogether. Belief in Messiah alone is not enough to get you into heaven - Matthew 7:21-23, John 3:3, John 3:36 (ESV is the best translation for John 3:36). Contemplate how the Roman empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13. Revelation 17 confirms that it is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders/nations/governments etc have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years to accomplish the religion of the Israelites C) History as we know it is fake. You don't really need to speculate though because you can start a relationship with God and have proof. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life. - Revelation 3:20 Revelation 6 1st Seal: White horse = Roman Empire conquering nations under Trajan 98-117 AD & Gospel spreading rapidly. 2nd Seal: Red horse, bloody civil wars with 32 different Emperors, most killed by the sword. 185-284 AD 3rd Seal: Black horse, economic despair from high taxes to pay for wars, farmers stopped growing. 200-250 AD 4th Seal: Pale horse, 1/4th of Romans died from famine, pestilence; at one point 5,000 dying per day. 250-300 AD 5th Seal: Diocletian persecuted Smyrna church era saints for ten years, blood crying out for vengeance. 303-312 AD 6th Seal: Political upheaval in the declining Roman Empire while the leaders battled each other. 313-395 AD Revelation 7 Sealing of 144,000, the saints, before trumpet war judgments, which led to the fall of the Roman Empire. Revelation 8 1st Trumpet: Alaric and the Goths attacked from the north, the path of hail, and set it on fire. 400-410 AD 2nd Trumpet: Genseric and the Vandals attacked the seas and coastlands, the blood of sailors in water. 425-470 AD 3rd Trumpet: Attila and the Huns scourged the Danube, Rhine & Po rivers area, dead bodies made water bitter. 451 AD 4th Trumpet: Odoacer and the Heruli caused the last Western Emperor (sun), Senate (moon) to lose power. 476 AD With the Western Roman Emperor (restrainer of 2 Thes. 2) removed; the son of perdition Popes took power. Revelation 9 Two woe judgments against the central 1/3rd and eastern 1/3rd of the Roman Empire. 612-1453 AD 5th Trumpet: Locust & scorpions point to Arabia, the rise of the Muslim army. Islam hides Gospel from Arabs. 612-762 AD 6th Trumpet: Turks released to attack Constantinople with large cannons (fire, smoke, brimstone). 1062-1453 AD Revelation 10 The little book is the printed Bible, which was needed after the Dark Ages when Scriptures were banned by Popes. Revelation 11 7th Trumpet: Martin Luther measured Roman Church; found that it’s an apostate church, not part of true temple. The two witnesses are the Scriptures and saints who proclaim the pure Gospel and testify against the antichrist Popes. Papal Church pronounced Christendom dead in 1514 AD. Silence for 3.5 years. Then Luther posted his 95 Thesis, which sparked the Protestant Reformation and brought the witnesses back to life. Millions of Catholics were saved. Revelation 12 Satan used the Roman Empire to try to wipe out the early Church, Satan was cast down as the Empire collapsed. Revelation 13 The antichrist beast Popes reigned in power 1,260 years, 538-1798, is the little horn of Daniel 7, son of perdition. The false prophet Jesuit Superior General rose to power from land (earth) of Vatican and has created many deceptions. Revelation 14 Points to great harvest during the Protestant Reformation & wrath on Catholic countries who obey antichrist Pope. Revelation 15 Overcoming saints victorious over the beast. Prelude to 7 vials and judgment on those who support Papal Rome. Revelation 16 1st Vial: The foul sore of atheism was poured out on Catholic France, leaving them with no hope, led to revolution. 2nd Vial: The French Revolution started in 1793, killed 250,000, as France had obeyed the Pope and killed saints. 3rd Vial: The French Revolution spread to rural areas of France, where Protestants had been killed in river areas. 4th Vial: The bloody Napoleonic wars shed the blood of countries who had revered and obeyed the antichrist Pope. 5th Vial: Judgment on the seat of the beast. Papal States invaded in 1798, Pope imprisoned, removed from power. 6th Vial: The Turks vast domain dried up, they were only left with Turkey. They lost control of Palestine in 1917 AD, Israel became a nation again in 1948

[@pavementsailor]

Read about something like this years ago. A large tubular wheel with freon inside. Part of the wheel was hidden from the sun in a trench. Expansion and contraction of the gas off balanced it, causing it to slowly move. But with a good amount of torque, the article said.

[@liamwinter4512]

@@pavementsailor lol. That was one of them. It was wild.

[@zedantXiang]

Imagine creating something that work by having heat above freezing,cooling the world at an incredible rate

[@kenbrown2808]

when I was young, I looked to the small side of things for perpetual motion, but when I got older I realized there already exists a machine that will run until the heat death of the universe. it's commonly referred to as "the universe"

[@FerretyZebra]

Then its not perpetual if it stops.

[@Ice_elite]

@@FerretyZebra Its an experiment then will the universe stop or will we die out?

[@fugnignafer5812]

Wow ur so deep

[@FerretyZebra]

@Lex Bright Raven no perpetual implies infinity and if there is an end then there is no infinity

[@c4t4l4n4]

An interesting perspective. What powers the universe?

[@delburtphend6016]

Newton's second law of motion: states that in a closed system, not affected by external forces, the total linear momentum does not change. This line can be the line that is the circumference of a circle. The interactions in this line are the same as interactions in a straight line. If a 40 kg rim gives all of its linear momentum to 1 kg: the momentum is still conserved even though all the mass is moving in a circle. One kg moving 40 m/sec has 40 times as much energy as 40 kg moving 1 m/sec; but it has the same linear momentum. This means that the Laws of Physics ‘require’ that energy can be made from preexisting momentum. And this energy can be easily recycled. The friction is minimal; because this 40 times increase is done in just a few seconds.

[@charlesjmouse]

The Oxford Electric Bell: While I fully understand the wish to keep this famous experiment running I wonder if doing so may have unfortunate consequences? It would be most unfortunate if the original makers stumbled upon something potentially revolutionary that may not be apparent by the time these batteries have fully 'run down' - whatever chemical reaction is driving their function may obscure their construction once fully complete.* *Yes I realise that is very unlikely but as 'we' have no idea how they work finding out before the opportunity is lost, however unlikely, may be prudent.

[@danieljob3184]

True perpetual motion operates indefinitely & is therefore impossible as even light & heat is subject to entropy. But it is nice to see a couple of items that outlived their inventors in a world where cellphones are screwed after 2 years.

[@greezooo]

Time crystals seem to be unaffected by entropy... perhaps the answer lies down that emerging branch of science?

[@AdmiralBob]

You need to go easier on your cellphones.

[@aeonproelium]

The vacuum of space is not subject to entropy. Besides that we know very little about our reality and the things within it. Haven't even got passed our moon much less explored distant planets in this universe or the infinite others. So to say impossible shows a great amount of arrogance and ignorance.

[@LordMegatherium]

@@aeonproelium The reverse is actually more true: to assume that physics here on earth might be somehow special would need an even bigger leap of faith. Not to say it's impossible but in my limited knowledge those odds would make playing the lottery as certain as an apple falling if you drop it. There are big known unknowns like dark energy/matter or what happens at the singularity of a black hole but all in all considering we're dealing quite well with those unknowns. Maybe our math is still too weak (e.g. Einstein wouldn't have been able to "get it" without Lorentz and Poincaré using their noggins), maybe we need more weird out of the box tricks like Feyman integrals. But having said all that... there's not been a single iota of the 0th law of thermodynamics being leaky in any way. Axing that axiom (pun unintended) and still trying to make the rest of physics work on paper should be a nice excercise for a summer holiday (or a few lifetimes).

[@swordzanderson5352]

@@aeonproelium That would be assuming that physics suddenly worked differently in other parts of the Universe, as if all planets didn't all form due to clumping of space matter over millennia. Sure, there could be some VERY weird matter out there, or biosystems that are vastly different to us which are carbon-based, a Universe CANNOT have two contradicting laws existing at once. Including your brain and any simulations that it can come up with, they all have to be subjected to the universal laws of our Universe.

[@evanlee93]

closed system or not, these are some really interesting ways to convert energy, and definitely should have been pursued further into that field

[@cheesaliciousable]

I'd put the oxford bell under a cloud chamber, it may be that it goes off when enough of a radioactive charge gets stored in the bells, this ringing motion dispells the charge until it reaches the point where they react again

[@hatboxghost735]

Our relatives across the pond seemed to have been consumed with the search for perpetual motion. Makes me want to experiment but just one look at the notes from much greater minds than my own make me say it’s a fool’s errand. Yet, still a fun hobby possibly

[@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13]

In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!

[@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681]

"You have broken the laws of physics! I shall inform the Physics Police immediately!"

[@slake9727]

Love a good Simpsons' reference

[@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13]

@@slake9727 Thank God someone got it... I was getting a little worried there

[@WizelBalan]

@@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13 This perpetual motion machine she made is a joke, it just keeps going faster and faster!

[@Sutterjack]

I know it doesn't qualify as perpetual motion, but the Forterra brickworks In Claughton, Lancashire, produces 50 million bricks a year, from shale that's quarried a mile and a half away, and uses aerial ropeway that uses no power, yet moves 300 tonnes a day - pretty impressive engineering.

[@mitchellw7118]

I've never heard of that, that sounds amazing!!

[@gordonlawrence1448]

I think you will find that it can carry way more than 200 tons a day. For a brickworks that is a very small amount.

[@Carnophobe]

@@mitchellw7118 Tom Scott does a short but interesting video about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIPMiot_ZrmZq5Y

[@mitchellw7118]

@@Carnophobe already watched it after the above comment its amazing!!

[@Yvolve]

This technique goes back to the Industrial Revolution. Time Team did an episode where they dug up an old mining complex and it used a system like this. Such a smart idea, taking advantage of the height difference.

[@juliegale3863]

As an ordinary personI with no mechanical education I always understood there could never be a perpetual motion because eventually the substance it was made of would wear away and the machine would stop. Love your videos.

[@rager1969]

As a kid, I remember a store at Knott's Berry Farm (outside the park, near the chicken restaurant) that sold various things like ornate candles, porcelain figurines and Knott's merchandise. They also had metal stick figure kinetic motion devices, like a guy riding a bike and other cool things. It just captivated me, but I never wanted my mom to buy one, cuz they were expensive and I knew it would lose appeal once I got it home.

[@popincherries]

You were a VERY self aware child.lol

[@davidbwa]

that beverly clock is pretty impressive. especially for being invented / built in the 1800s

[@elgatto3133]

You can buy one like it for a few grand called JLC atmos.

[@therealzilch]

Thanks for the first accurate description of how radiometers work that I've heard. I remember buying them as a kid for $1.00. I guess that dates me. And as they say, the hardest part of designing a perpetual motion machine is hiding the battery. Nicely done as usual. Cheers from rainy Vienna, Scott

[@BillGreenAZ]

What if the battery consumes less energy than what you get out of the system being powered by it?

[@99temporal]

​@@BillGreenAZthen you either have something else powering it, or you're in for being responsible for THE biggest discovery in human history

[@BillGreenAZ]

@@99temporal I would think if you could somehow leverage the force of gravity then you would have something.

[@SebaBuenoHaceMusiquitaJijiji]

​​@@BillGreenAZthat is what everyone in the wheel's design thinks too, you cant use gravity to rise something that needs more force applied than the one you are using. Unless you use evaporation to get mass as energy storage in a higher point and use the force created because of it falling down, but that is not a perpetual machine. You cant break the laws of the universe, but you can use them to create real stuff and amazing things. Yes, maybe you cant create a perpetual machine thanks to gravity, but you can use gravity and mass as energy storage and create devices that would be fully charged with you just moving up some weights. That is something you CAN do.

[@BillGreenAZ]

@@SebaBuenoHaceMusiquitaJijiji, yes, that's what I am thinking as well. If the energy that it takes to cause a wheel to be overbalanced and spin is less than the energy produced during rotation, then you would have more energy out than you put in. In effect, an energy generator.

[@chrisfairbank8160]

The clock would still work in a vacuum as long as the conductor had direct sunlight at some point right? The sun's rays travel through the vacuum of space to heat the earth so I'd think it would work

[@gordonlawrence1448]

I think the most hilareous was made by Heath Robinson. He was a proper engineer as well as a cartoonist. He once designed a machine to get peas onto your fork (instead of chasing them round the plate) that took up a whole room. His "perpetual motion" machine was designed so that when he jumped up and down on it weights inside fed some energy to something or other. Basically he was taking the mickey out of others doing the same and when it "refused to work" he jumped up and down on it and hey presto.

[@knuckle12356]

Nowadays if you don't take the mickey out, you'll get a Cease & Desist injunction filed against you by Disney...haha, we joke, we kid. As for the rest of your story; you're thinking of Rube Goldberg devices, not perpetual motion machines. The former are needlessly complex and often silly engineering behemoths designed to perform a singular, simple, and generally useless task. "Forking" peas would jive perfectly with this description. A perpetual motion device seeks to either create energy from nothing, or seek to operate without inefficiency loss due to heat energy transfer. Which challenge the first 2 laws of thermodynamics, respectively. Neither is possible. The first will always require some sort of external energy source to maintain action. The second will always require again some external energy source to replace what's lost to heat radiation. Thanks for the story sir, but you are in the wrong line. Fill out this form and take a number for line #2.

[@Spacekriek]

It reminds me of another attempt at perpetual motion, a cartoon drawn of a buttered piece of bread tied to the back of a cat. Since bread likes to fall with the buttered side down it is basically in a contest with the cat who also tries to land on its feet. Voila, a perpetual motion device. :)

[@michaelcarlton1484]

To be fair, the sponge belt would be like a self-sustaining waterwheel. The necessary changes would be how the water moves back up to the top without a net loss of energy as well as making sure the sponges, or whatever substitute material is used, are completely efficient in the absorbing and disposing of water.

[@DsiakMondala]

Indeed, I think such a device could probably run for a very long time too after the initial push.

[@Graphomite]

The dried sponges with the weights pushing down are going to be considerably less heavy than the sponges with the weight+water that need to be pulled up. We know it wouldn't work, but if we're arguing if it would even be efficient, the answer is still no. There would be no way to make that work well. There'd be a major loss of energy as soon as the first rotation was made.

[@DsiakMondala]

@@Graphomite w8, I dont think the sponges move up right? its only the water thought "Capillary action" (Yes I had to google the name)

[@AustinMello]

Yea, I have to admit that the sponges make sense to me, too. I *trust* that it wouldn't work, but my mechanics-brain feels like it could get the experiment to work. Pumping water back up must be costly. I also don't know if sponges+weights make any more sense than buckets.

[@TIMEtoRIDE900]

There was a wheel on the cover of a science magazine in 1982 where springs of a particular bronze alloy were arranged to pull on an eccentric. As the spring dipped into slightly warm water at the bottom it either gained or lost tension (can't remember which) that caused the imbalance, which drove the wheel. It had to be under load so it wouldn't spin too fast. The energy released was more than enough to keep the water warm. Over-Unity was achieved.

[@Scoutter]

Even not technically a Perpetual Machine, having one which is 99,999999999999% efficient still would be awesome ^^ Especially if you could make use of the motion or "thing" it does.

[@cozytv9831]

Free energy is everywhere: temperatur, wind, sun, ocean waves, gravity = tidal power, magnetism, inertia itself and so on. A machine that doesn't us all of that, is sensless and therefore called perpetual motion machine. Fun fakt: We can accelerate a car exponentially with linear power input by a gear but the energy stored in the movement of the car at the end is x². We us this power gain to heat up ur breaks. Have a nice day :D

[@lukepartin6056]

If you're a perpetual motion machine, I bet 182 years goes by in a blink.

[@ov3rdrive966]

lolol

[@deathstrokian6976]

What’s my age again?

[@williamwingo4740]

While taking graduate-level thermodynamics three times before passing it, I learned there are two kinds of perpetual-motion machines, called creatively "machines of the first and second kinds." Machines of the first kind attempt to violate the first law of thermo by creating energy out of nothing. Machines of the second kind obey the first law, but attempt to violate the second law of thermo by avoiding a transfer of heat from a hotter to a colder body. Neither kind works, of course; but historically they have been very effective in transferring precious metals from the pockets of the gullible into the pockets of the "inventors." In some videos of the "see-saw balance," you can see the hole in the table for the push-rod that keeps it going. Another approach would be to have some iron embedded in the wooden base--maybe just a single staple at each end, or maybe the very screws holding it together--and use phased electromagnets under the table. Another historic machine used an external power source of wooden boards that warped and unwarped due to changes in humidity, but I couldn't find a reference for that one. Cheers.

[@eekee6034]

Oh, now you mention it, I remember that bit about "machines of the first and second kinds," and the crack about transferring precious metals. I'm sure it was in one of the innumerable books I read when I was a kid, likely an old one.

[@lowkey213]

Perpetual motion is possible, just like everything was impossible until someone figured it out. Perpetual motion, PM machine, and extracting power from it are completely different things. Science is working on fusion technology, isn’t that perpetual motion, and all the math says it’s not only possible, but we extract power from it. Nuclear power plants can even be considered perpetual motion if defined a certain way. Uranium pellets heat water into steam, steam turns turbines that make power, that power is used to make more pellets, and you get air conditioning, heating and television to run on it.

[@utah133]

The bell battery has to be a Zamboni stack. (Unrelated to the ice machine) Said to be metal coated tissue disks stacked by a thousand or more, likely alternating silver and zinc. The "electrolyte" is just the moisture in the paper, sealed up in the whole thing. Two stacks in series with the ball flipping pole to pole. Only picoamps required.

[@chrischandler889]

I tried to build one on a ferris wheel looking thing I built with magnets that repelled each other. Many years ago i swore I could possibly get it to work but couldn't. I thought about both having a timing gear to change the magnets positions at certain times and even electromagnetic with timed electrical bursts. I never finished and it has been in the back of my mind for many years. Would be fun to retry if only for fun.

[@volvo09]

people have made some pretty impressive designs like that over the years. but in the end.... they don't work. the energy you put into turning the magnets over is lost energy every time (or added energy if you use a battery). they're still cool to look at though.

[@Yezpahr]

@Chris Chandler The reason the ferris wheel type is so interesting is because inertia is something our brain (still) doesn't automatically calculate when we look at something. Ballistic paths, where something goes up and must come down is easy for us to subconsciously grasp, but "motion"? Our brain only "sees" motion/momentum/torque. But rotational inertia is an odd one, and that's what kills a Ferris Wheel type of Perpetuum Mobile machine.

[@DrPsychotic]

I like the way you explained everything and didn't use the claim of achieving perpetual motion as clickbait, people will actually say they made perpetual motion and than people will defend it saying it is perpetual motion because its not possible so they are all powered and that makes no freaking since, ive known perpetual motion is impossible but these are very impressive attempts and tbh i feel this is as close we can get until someone comes out with a quantum perpetual motion device 🤣

[@samueljohnston9639]

It’s impossible to get 100% efficiency but I think the future of energy sciences is getting as close to 99.999% as possible

[@finian2]

I think that maybe, just maybe, we might find *some way* to technically create a system where no energy is lost and we get "perpetual" motion. But the moment we even *think* about harvesting that energy, it's lost and the system will collapse.

[@hasnatkhan2099]

I've read an interesting way for infinite energy in a (fictional) book I've read. It was basically two portals facing each other, like how it would be if it was an infinite fall, with light shining through them. The trick is that one portal actually sends it back in time a little bit. So in the present, the energy between the portals is both from the original light and the light that was sent to the past, thus creating infinite energy. This probably isn't very realistic, but I thought it was pretty cool.

[@shujin7024]

well the first step in the working of your device is moving matter and wave instantly from point A to point B and the second step is a time machine. I think only with one of those two discovery one would be able to create infinite energy. Portal one on top of the other with a jet of water going down and a generator to aquire the power. Or charge a battery and send it back in time full.

[@chrischeetham1652]

I gotta say, though fiction, at least it's something I can wrap my head around. Like, sure, if those things were attainable then that seems like something that would work. I've read some crap that I almost thought perhaps running head first into a brick wall a couple times before reading might help to make things somewhat believable, but idk, maybe im just weird. I really do judge fiction on it's believability....if it's completely ridiculous and "just because" is the explanation behind said ridiculousness, it just falls flat for me. Well, I've gotten off subject enough. Time to take my Adderall so I don't become perpetual...

[@hasnatkhan2099]

@@chrischeetham1652 Yea I completely agree. Even if fiction novels don't have to follow all the laws of physics of the real world, it should at least be self consistent and logical.

[@supC_]

@@shujin7024 I can guarantee you that even if we could make portals, keeping them open would use waaay more power than the water turbine could ever generate. (currently the prevailing theories state that opening a wormhole (closest known thing to a portal) would take more energy than exists in the known universe iirc) I actually suspect that that would not only not be a perpetual motion machine, but orders of magnitude less efficient than just boiling the water so that it rises as steam. (The current most common method of power generation)

[@vyor8837]

@@supC_ depends on the exact theory you go with for their creation

[@markcoupe5748]

My friend can time travel. He works for the council and finishes work at 5 pm everyday yet he is always home by 3pm

[@DangStank]

What if it turns out that the oxford bell is just a rudimentary version of those wobbly toys you put on the windowsill with the tiny solar panels on them

[@since4everrr]

This guy has so many channels but i actually don’t mind, he’s got quality stuff

[@dudewatevs56]

Wouldn't it be funny if it turns out that the sulfur coated batteries are actually smaller perpetual motion machines that power the bell? We'd simply never find out because it would never stop ringing for us to disassemble the batteries.

[@TheWinjin]

I think with advances in xray, MRI and the likes, we will probably have a look inside in a hundred years or so. But the idea is hilarious. People look inside, and in ten years it's a Star Trek Space Communism with Free Energy for everyone, powered by cold fusion and those little Oxford batteries.

[@alexsiemers7898]

@@TheWinjin or the entirety of Oxford gets “mysteriously destroyed” within a month of it happening

[@Mastermindyoung14]

The hardest part about building a perpetual motion machine is hiding the batteries and motors.

[@mirandahotspring4019]

The Beverly clock is not the oldest atmospheric pressure/temperature driven clock, the first clock powered by changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature was invented by Cornelis Drebbel in the early 17th century.

[@christianhammer8545]

Leonardo da Vinci made some designs on perpetual machines, but realized that loss of energy would stop all these machines over time. Just a little bit of 500 years ago...

[@Timechunks]

I sent an email to the physics department at Oxford asking them if they could point an xrf analyser at the batteries in the Watkins Hill experiment so we can know what those batteries are made from.