Perpetual Motion Machines
Last time we talked about Time Crystals which are a form of perpetual motion machines. So what exactly are perpetual motion machines and why do we keep searching and learning about them?
Perpetual motion machines are machines which basically do not follow the laws of thermodynamics and can do work without requiring any energy. It sounds impossible right?
But some of the greatest scientists have given much of their time in producing such a machine as it would lead to a world where we do not need any energy source but can get unlimited energy.
The concept of a perpetual machine is believed to have taken seed from the renowned mathematician Bhaskara’s views about perpetual motion.
He sketched a wheel with curved reservoirs in which Mercury was filled in equal proportions and allowed to flow. Now the reason behind it was that as the mercury would flow and as the wheel would start rotating, it would never stop as the mercury will flow downwards in subsequent reservoirs and due to one side being perpetually heavy at all times the wheel will not stop rotating.
There are three kinds of perpetual machines which are according to them violating the laws of thermodynamics respectively. The laws of thermodynamics act on a very wide scale. For example the celestial bodies like planets may seem to be in perpetual motion as they have been continuously rotating and revolving around the stars, but actually the also lose their kinetic energy in form of solar wind, interstellar medium resistance, gravitational radiation and thermal radiation, so they will not keep moving forever.
So if we think that the machines powered by the tides in oceans can be considered as perpetual motion machines then they can also stop after a few billion years when the earth and moon stop rotating and revolving.
There are many models taken from the rotating wheel like the mercury filled reservoirs are replaced by metal balls of different mass. The mass unbalance will cause the wheel to rotate but there is a problem as due to mass unbalance the centre of mass is shifted downwards. Due to the low centre of mass the wheel will just oscillate back and forth and finally stop moving.
Another idea was given by Robert Boyle about a self-watering pot in which a pot is filled with water and the water rises up in capillaries due to capillary action and fall back in the pot thus making it like self-regulating fountain but it was countered as the same capillary action would stop it from letting the water drop.
Another very famous example is that of the bird drinking the liquid and continuously moving. It functions on ambient temperatures and the evaporation of water but will stop once all the water is evaporated.
Even if engineers make a machine which will not violate the first law of thermodynamics but the second law which tells us that energy spreads out through processes like friction. Now any machine will have moving parts, which produces tiny amounts of friction and heat. Heat is the energy escaping and this will cause the machine to eventually stop.
So far the first two laws have not allowed any idea of perpetual motion to work. But the laws of thermodynamics apply to closed linear systems. In 2017 new states of matter, Time Crystals, were discovered which may allow for perpetual motion by bypassing the laws of thermodynamics.
Thus we cannot conclusively say that we will not find a perpetual motion machine because we do not fully understand the universe and it may happen that we would have to rethink our laws of thermodynamics or we may find perpetual motion in quantum state.
But we can say for sure that we will not stop finding ways to make a successful perpetual machine and that in itself is a perpetual motion!
Perpetual motion machines are machines which basically do not follow the laws of thermodynamics and can do work without requiring any energy. It sounds impossible right?
The concept of a perpetual machine is believed to have taken seed from the renowned mathematician Bhaskara’s views about perpetual motion.
There are three kinds of perpetual machines which are according to them violating the laws of thermodynamics respectively. The laws of thermodynamics act on a very wide scale. For example the celestial bodies like planets may seem to be in perpetual motion as they have been continuously rotating and revolving around the stars, but actually the also lose their kinetic energy in form of solar wind, interstellar medium resistance, gravitational radiation and thermal radiation, so they will not keep moving forever.
So if we think that the machines powered by the tides in oceans can be considered as perpetual motion machines then they can also stop after a few billion years when the earth and moon stop rotating and revolving.
There are many models taken from the rotating wheel like the mercury filled reservoirs are replaced by metal balls of different mass. The mass unbalance will cause the wheel to rotate but there is a problem as due to mass unbalance the centre of mass is shifted downwards. Due to the low centre of mass the wheel will just oscillate back and forth and finally stop moving.
Another idea was given by Robert Boyle about a self-watering pot in which a pot is filled with water and the water rises up in capillaries due to capillary action and fall back in the pot thus making it like self-regulating fountain but it was countered as the same capillary action would stop it from letting the water drop.
Another very famous example is that of the bird drinking the liquid and continuously moving. It functions on ambient temperatures and the evaporation of water but will stop once all the water is evaporated.
Even if engineers make a machine which will not violate the first law of thermodynamics but the second law which tells us that energy spreads out through processes like friction. Now any machine will have moving parts, which produces tiny amounts of friction and heat. Heat is the energy escaping and this will cause the machine to eventually stop.
So far the first two laws have not allowed any idea of perpetual motion to work. But the laws of thermodynamics apply to closed linear systems. In 2017 new states of matter, Time Crystals, were discovered which may allow for perpetual motion by bypassing the laws of thermodynamics.
Thus we cannot conclusively say that we will not find a perpetual motion machine because we do not fully understand the universe and it may happen that we would have to rethink our laws of thermodynamics or we may find perpetual motion in quantum state.
But we can say for sure that we will not stop finding ways to make a successful perpetual machine and that in itself is a perpetual motion!
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