Forever Reaction

abcaines said:
Something needs to add energy to the system to keep it cycling like this.
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in this case it;s the same gif video being played over and over on a loop. ... ... not unlike some of the forever reoccuring reactions to current events we see posted on the forum from time to time...... :sneaky:;)
 
Perpetual motion is a physical impossibility. Forces like friction will rob a little bit of energy each cycle, and eventually the system runs down. machines like this will have large flywheels, unbalanced weights, and so forth that give them the ability to run for a very long time, but they have to give out sometime.

This appears to be a looping GIF, but there are desk toys in this exact style. They use a battery or electrical supply to accelerate the marble and give the illusion of perpetual motion. (Strikes me also as something you don't want running perpetually--it must be quite noisy.)
 

I don’t have a scientific background but have often wondered why a machine that runs on magnets wouldn’t be considered perpetual motion. This is the closest thing you can get to a perpetual motion machine according to AI.
  • Inertial/Orbital systems: Satellites in deep space and planets orbiting the sun will remain in motion indefinitely because there is virtually no friction or air resistance to slow them down.
  • Superconducting circuits: If you start an electrical current in a superconducting ring cooled to near absolute zero, it will flow endlessly without losing energy because there is zero electrical resistance.
These aren't true perpetual motion machines because they don't produce unlimited work, but they demonstrate objects in motion that can coast near-eternally.
 
biscuit1953 said:
I don’t have a scientific background but have often wondered why a machine that runs on magnets wouldn’t be considered perpetual motion.
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Because the total work done by a magnet is zero. An electric motor works with magnets to create mechanical energy, but the motor rotates because external energy (electricity) creates a rotating magnetic field. Conversely, a generator (which is basically the same mechanism in reverse) uses mechanical energy (from wind, water, diesel, etc.) to rotate magnets, which produces a rotating magnetic field that's converted into electrical energy. The magnets themselves add no energy to the system. A stationary magnet produces only a static field. It can pull part of a rotor forward, but at the same time it's pulling another part backward, so the net work is zero.

Similarly, an object in orbit--or, for that matter, a body drifting in a straight line in space--looks like perpetual motion, but it has no net external force acting on it, so it's just conserving energy, not producing any of its own. In accordance with Newton's first law, it just keeps on doing what it's already doing. Ditto with a superconducting system; since there is zero electrical resistance, it just conserves energy without losing any. None of these systems produce energy or do work. If you tried to extract usable work from them, they would run down (the orbit would decay, etc.)
 
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