Perpetual motion machine, perp e tum-m O bile (Latin perpetuum mobile translated perpetual motion) - an imaginary machine that, once set in motion, would do work indefinitely for a long time without borrowing energy from outside. The ability to operate such a machine indefinitely would mean obtaining energy from nothing.
The idea of a perpetual motion machine apparently originated in Europe in the 13th century (although there is evidence that the first design of a perpetual motion machine was proposed by the Indian Bhaskara in the 12th century). Before this, projects of perpetual motion machines were unknown. The Greeks and Romans did not have them, who developed many effective mechanisms and laid the foundations for scientific approaches to the study of nature. Scientists suggest that cheap and virtually unlimited labor in the form of slaves slowed down the development of cheap energy sources in antiquity.
Why were people so persistent in wanting to build perpetual motion machine?
There is nothing surprising. In the XII-XIII centuries began Crusades and European society began to move. The craft began to develop faster and the machines that set the mechanisms in motion were improved. These were mainly water wheels and wheels driven by animals (horses, mules, bulls walking in a circle). So the idea arose to come up with an efficient machine driven by cheaper energy. If energy is taken from nothing, then it is worth nothing and this is extreme special case cheapness - for nothing.
The idea of a perpetual motion machine became even more popular in the 16th-17th centuries, during the era of the transition to machine production. The number of known perpetual motion projects has exceeded a thousand. Not only poorly educated artisans dreamed of creating a perpetual motion machine, but also some prominent scientists of their time, since at that time there was no fundamental scientific prohibition on the creation of such a device.
Already in the 15th-17th centuries, visionary naturalists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Girolamo Cardano, Simon Stevin, Galileo Galilei formulated the principle: “It is impossible to create a perpetual motion machine.” Simon Stevin was the first to derive the law of balance of forces on the basis of this principle. inclined plane, which ultimately led him to the discovery of the law of addition of forces according to the triangle rule (addition of vectors).
By the middle of the 18th century, after centuries of attempts to create a perpetual motion machine, most scientists began to believe that this was impossible. It was just an experimental fact.
Since 1775, the French Academy of Sciences refused to consider perpetual motion projects, although even at that time French academicians had no solid scientific grounds to fundamentally deny the possibility of drawing energy from nothing.
The impossibility of obtaining additional work from nothing was firmly substantiated only with the creation and approval of the “law of conservation of energy” as a universal and one of the most fundamental laws of nature.
First, Gottfried Leibniz formulated the law of conservation of mechanical energy in 1686. And the law of conservation of energy as a universal law of nature was formulated independently by Julius Mayer (1845), James Joule (1843–50) and Hermann Helmholtz (1847).
Doctor Mayer and physiologist Helmholtz took the last important step. They found that the law of conservation of energy is true for animals and plants. Before this, there was the concept of “ manpower"and it was believed that for animals and plants the laws of physics may not be fulfilled. Thus, the law of conservation of energy was the first principle established for the entire known Universe.
The final touch in generalizing the law of conservation of energy was Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity (1905). He showed that the law of conservation of mass (there was such a law) is part of the law of conservation of energy. Energy and mass are equivalent according to the formula E = mс 2, Where With - speed of light.
Today everyone knows that a perpetual motion machine is impossible. But the question arises as to how scientists reached this understanding. It was necessary to formulate the concept of energy, the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and the laws of conservation of energy. But in the beginning there was nothing like that, and the inventors of perpetuum mobile grew like mushrooms after rain.
The first major inventor was Bessler, or under his creative pseudonym Orffireus. It took place in Germany in the 18th century. They say that this mysterious gentleman appeared in 1712 in the town of Gera. He had a strange toy with him: a thick wooden wheel, one and a half meters in diameter, wrapped in an oiled piece of leather. A massive axle protruded in the center of the wheel and a strong rope was tied to it. Standing in front of the public, Bessler gave a slight push and the wheel began to spin, the creaks of rolling wheels could be heard balls. The wheel pumped water using a small pump and also lifted weights.
The only surviving drawing of the Bessler wheel.
In total, the inventor created 4 machines. But he was very eccentric and suffered from a strong form of paranoia. Unfortunately, he left no records of the internal structure of the mechanism. In each of the devices, there was a part that he never showed, when he tried to open it, a wave of paranoia covered him, and he destroyed his machine in order to build an even bigger one in the future. At some point he was favored by Landgrave Karl of Hesse-Kassel. But the patron wanted to make sure that Bessler really invented a perpetual motion machine. Karl invited Leibniz, one of the greatest scientists in Europe at that time. Until the end, Leibniz could not be convinced that this was truly a perpetual motion machine, but he was very impressed and recommended the machine. They say that Leibniz was so impressed that he tried to attract Newton to the machine. But Newton did not answer the letter, or he generally disdained attempts to create a perpetual motion machine.
Then the Landgrave decided to conduct an additional check. Bessler was given a large room, in the center of which he built another machine. Two guards were posted at the door of the room. At the end of the work, the room was sealed and a month later they opened it and made sure that the wheel was still spinning. But as always, Bessler’s condition was that part of the device was closed, that is, it was impossible to be completely sure of the authenticity of the discovery.
At some point, the maid's testimony appeared that she helped run the wheel. But there is an opinion that this is perjury, because of the small salary.
Apart from the drawing, nothing has survived from that invention. Most likely, the mechanism worked on the principle of a gear wheel, in the recesses of which weights that hinged were attached. The geometry of the teeth is such that the weights on the left side of the wheel are always closer to the axle than on the right. According to the author, this, in accordance with the law of the lever, should cause the wheel to constantly rotate. When rotating, the weights would swing out to the right and maintain the driving force.
However, if such a wheel is made, it will remain motionless. The reason for this fact is that although the weights on the right have a longer lever, on the left there are more in number. As a result, the moments of forces on the right and left are equal.
Later in the 19th century, Thomas Young formulated the concept of energy as the ability to do work. Julius von Meyer, a physician and physicist, comes to the conclusion that energy is conserved, it simply changes its form. James Joule came to the same conclusion. And the third scientist who came up with the idea of energy conservation was Hermann von Helmholtz, also a doctor and physicist. In his article, Helmholtz formulated the impossibility of a perpetual motion machine of the first kind, that is, a mechanism that violates the law of conservation of energy. Energy doesn't come from nowhere.
Keely in his laboratory. 1889
The next major "inventor" of a perpetual motion machine was the American Keely with his Keely engine. He lived in Philadelphia. For the time being, he was a completely unknown person; he made small toys and sold them at the local market. Around 1874, rumors began to spread around Philadelphia about a new invention using a new, unknown force. We must remember that these were the times of Edison, with his electric light bulb, Nobel and dynamite, Maxwell and the theory of electromagnetism. Quite quickly, many investors were found who were willing to invest a lot of money in this device. Investors were from Philadelphia and New York. The Keely Motor Company was founded.
Keely and the board of directors of the Keely Motor Company.
But you need to understand that Kili could speak beautifully, but very incomprehensibly. Nobody could understand him. He loved to make beautiful demonstrations, explained a lot, but did not show the structure of the mechanism. And all the time he promised that a new engine design would be invented soon. And so it went on for almost 10 years. Investors went to court twice, expert witnesses were invited, but nothing helped. The problem was that the company was named after him and everything depended on the inventor. And investors didn’t really have any rights. And to prevent Keely from running away, investors had to make compromises with him. There was even a joke saying that ships powered by Keely engines would sail through the Panama Canal.
At the most difficult moment, Keely found a sponsor: the widow Clara Bloomfield-Mohr. She helped him with money and PR. Because of strong criticism, she wanted to conduct a check. Alexander Scott, an electrical engineer, was invited.
One of Keely's demonstration mechanisms was the so-called levitation experiment, or chord-mass. 
Killy played a couple of chords and a heavy weight, defying the force of gravity, floated inside the glass tube. A “repeater” was connected to the tube using an electrical cord. And Scott suspected that it was a hollow tube and the mechanism was powered by compressed air. And he suggested that Keely conduct an experiment without a wire. To which Kili refused.
After Keely's death, in the basement of the house, investors discovered a large vessel with compressed air, with which he launched one of his mechanisms.
They say that before his death he was asked how he would like to be remembered. To which he replied that he was the biggest schemer of the 19th century.
Discovery of the second law of thermodynamics, entropy, Sadi Carnot...
I'll continue later because the post is getting too long.
The perpetual motion machine has haunted scientists and engineers for many centuries. Indeed, the idea of creating a device that will constantly work without wasting energy seems very tempting. Is it really possible to create it, scientists say.
What is a perpetual motion machine?
The perpetual motion machine or Perpetuum Mobile is an imaginary device. Some believe that it is theoretically possible to create a machine that will endlessly do work without expending any energy resources. At the same time, scientists gradually became disillusioned with this idea and admitted that it was better to abandon attempts to create such a device, because they were pointless. The impossibility of creating a perpetual motion machine is postulated as the first law of thermodynamics. But the idea of a perpetual motion machine is still of great interest.
An ideal perpetual motion machine should work until the end of the Big Freeze. Proponents of this theory believe that until the end of time the Universe will expand at a very smooth acceleration. This process is called the Big Freeze, and when it is completed, it will be the end of everything. When this will happen has not been determined exactly, but we still have approximately 100 trillion years. So, a perpetual motion machine must work at least as long to be considered a real perpetual motion machine.
What are perpetual motion machines?
Perpetuum Mobile are divided into engines of the first kind and second kind. Engines of the first type could operate without fuel - and generally without energy costs that arise, for example, when mechanism parts rub against each other. Engines of the second type could extract heat from colder surrounding bodies and use this energy in work.
There are many projects on the Internet that claim to be working on a perpetual motion machine design. However, if you study these projects carefully, it becomes clear that they are all very far from the idea of a perpetual motion machine. But if someone manages to make such a device, the consequences will be stunning. It is believed that we will receive an eternal source of energy - free energy.
Unfortunately, according to the fundamental laws of physics of our Universe, the creation of a perpetual motion machine is impossible.
Why is it impossible to create a perpetual motion machine?
There are probably a lot of people who will say “never say never,” especially when it comes to science.” To some extent this is true. But if it turns out that it is possible to create a perpetual motion machine, it will revolutionize physics as we know it. It turns out that we
were wrong about everything and none of our previous observations make any sense.The first law of thermodynamics is the law of conservation of energy. According to this law, energy can neither be created nor destroyed - it simply passes from one form to another. In order to keep a mechanism in constant motion, the applied energy must remain in that mechanism without any loss. This is precisely why the creation of a perpetual motion machine is impossible.
In order to build a perpetual motion machine of the first kind, we must fulfill several conditions:
- The machine should not have any “rubbing” parts, any moving parts should not touch other parts, otherwise friction will arise between them. This friction will eventually cause the machine to lose energy. When parts come into contact, heat is generated, and it is this heat that is the energy lost by the machine. You will say that then you need to make a device with a smooth surface so that friction does not occur. But this is impossible, since there are no completely smooth objects.
- The machine must operate in a vacuum, without air. This comes from the first condition. Operating a machine anywhere will cause it to lose energy due to friction between moving parts and air. Although energy loss due to air friction is very small, it is a serious problem for a perpetual motion machine. If there is even minimal energy loss, the machine will start to stall and eventually stop completely due to these losses, even if it takes a very long time.
- The machine should not make any sounds. Sound is also a form of energy and if a machine makes any sound, it means that it is also losing energy.
Engines of the second type, which use the heat of surrounding bodies, do not contradict the law of conservation of energy. However, these cunning constructions are powerless against the second law of thermodynamics: in closed system Spontaneous transfer of heat from colder bodies to hotter ones is impossible. For this, some kind of intermediary is needed. And for the mediator to work, energy from an external source is required. Moreover, there are no truly reversible
But most importantly, creating a perpetual motion machine may turn out to be pointless. People expect that if such a device is made, we will get a free source of energy. But is it? In fact, we will receive exactly as much energy as we send into this engine. We remember that according to the laws of physics, which have not yet been refuted, energy cannot be created from nothing, it can only be transformed. So, it turns out that a perpetual motion machine is a useless device.
- Perpetual motion machine of the first kind- an engine (an imaginary machine) capable of endlessly doing work without consuming fuel or other energy resources. Their existence contradicts the first law of thermodynamics. According to the law of conservation of energy
- Perpetual motion machine of the second kind- an imaginary machine that, when put into operation, would transform into work all the heat extracted from the surrounding bodies (see Maxwell's Demon). They contradict the second law of thermodynamics. According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, all attempts to create such an engine are doomed to failure.
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Indian or Arabic perpetuum mobile with small obliquely fixed vessels partially filled with mercury.
Attempts to study the place, time and reason for the emergence of the idea of a perpetual motion machine are a very difficult task. It is no less difficult to name the first author of such a plan. The earliest information about Perpetuum mobile apparently includes a mention that we find in the Indian poet, mathematician and astronomer Bhaskara, as well as individual notes in Arabic manuscripts of the 16th century stored in Leiden, Gotha and Oxford. Currently, India is rightfully considered the ancestral home of the first perpetual motion machines. Thus, Bhaskara, in his poem dating from about 1150, describes a certain wheel with long, narrow vessels attached diagonally along the rim, half filled with mercury. The principle of operation of this first mechanical perpetuum mobile was based on the difference in the moments of gravity created by the liquid moving in vessels placed on the circumference of the wheel. Bhaskara justifies the rotation of the wheel very simply: “The wheel thus filled with liquid, being mounted on an axle lying on two fixed supports, continuously rotates on its own.” The first projects of a perpetual motion machine in Europe date back to the era of the development of mechanics, approximately in the 13th century. By the 16th - 17th centuries, the idea of a perpetual motion machine became especially widespread. At this time, the number of perpetual motion machines submitted for consideration to the patent offices of European countries grew rapidly. Among the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, an engraving with a drawing of a perpetual motion machine was found.
Unsuccessful designs of perpetual motion machines from history
Rice. 1. One of the oldest designs of a perpetual motion machine
In Fig. Figure 1 shows one of the oldest designs of a perpetual motion machine. It represents a gear wheel, in the recesses of which weights that hinge on hinges are attached. The geometry of the teeth is such that the weights on the left side of the wheel are always closer to the axle than on the right. According to the author, this, in accordance with the law of the lever, should cause the wheel to constantly rotate. When rotating, the weights would swing out to the right and maintain the driving force.
However, if such a wheel is made, it will remain motionless. The differential reason for this fact is that although the weights on the right have a longer lever, on the left there are more in number. As a result, the moments of forces on the right and left are equal.
Rice. 2. Design of a perpetual motion machine based on Archimedes' law
In Fig. Figure 2 shows the design of another engine. The author decided to use Archimedes' law to generate energy. The law is that bodies whose density is less than the density of water tend to float to the surface. Therefore, the author placed hollow tanks on a chain and placed the right half under water. He believed that the water would push them to the surface, and the chain with wheels would thus rotate endlessly.
The following is not taken into account: buoyant force is the difference between the water pressures acting on the lower and upper parts of an object immersed in water. In the design shown in the figure, this difference will tend to push out those tanks that are under water on the right side of the figure. But the lowest tank, which plugs the hole, will only be affected by the pressure force on its right surface. And it will exceed the total force acting on the remaining tanks. Therefore, the entire system will simply scroll clockwise until the water flows out.
Patents and copyright certificates for perpetual motion machines
Literature
- Voznesensky N. N. About perpetual motion machines. M., 1926.
- Ihak-Rubiner F. Perpetual motion machine. M., 1922.
- Kirpichev V. L. Conversations on mechanics. M.: GITL, 1951.
- Mach E. The principle of saving work: History and its root. St. Petersburg, 1909.
- Michal S. Perpetual motion machine yesterday and today. M.: Mir, 1984.
- Ord-Home A. Perpetual motion. The story of an obsession. M.: Knowledge, 1980.
- Perelman Ya. I. Entertaining physics. Book 1 and 2. M.: Nauka, 1979.
- Petrunin Yu. Why did the idea of a perpetual motion machine not exist in antiquity?// Petrunin Yu.Yu. The Ghost of Constantinople: Unsolvable Problems in Russian and European Culture. - M.: KDU, 2006, p. 75-82
Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
The inventors of perpetual motion machines were constantly reacting sharply to fresh ideas. In the Middle Ages they tried to create a “perpetuum mobile” based on magnetism. Later, the possibilities of electrical engineering were used. Nowadays there is an attempt to create it based on nanotechnology.
Even in the Middle Ages, repeated attempts were made to create a “perpetuum mobile” based on the phenomenon of magnetism.
In 1269, the Italian Pietro Peregrino wrote a treatise, “The Epistle on the Magnet,” a significant part of which is devoted to a description of a toothed iron wheel located in the same housing with a powerful magnet.
The magnet, according to the inventor, should repel the tooth closest to it, then the next one, and so on, causing the wheel to start moving non-stop. Whether Peregrino himself tried to build such an installation remains unknown.
In 1570, Johann Tasnerius, Archbishop of Cologne, one of the close associates of Emperor Charles V, proposed his own version of a magnetic perpetual motion machine, which was simpler in design.
A natural magnet was placed on top of a stand equipped with an inclined plane. According to the inventor, the magnet attracted a steel ball to itself, which rose up along the plane, fell down through a hole and returned to its starting point again. In theory, the movement of the ball under the influence of a magnet should have been eternal.
But this scheme was already criticized by Bishop Wilkins in his book “Mathematical Magic”. If a magnet has such an attractive force that it lifts a ball up a slope, the bishop wrote, then it is unlikely that this magnet will allow the same ball to fall down through a hole. He will simply attract and “stick” the ball to himself, and the movement will immediately stop.
Trying to overcome this kind of difficulty, inventors began to look for a special substance capable of neutralizing the forces of magnetism, so that they seemed to turn on and off at calculated times. If you placed a plate of such a substance between two magnets, they assured, it would be easy to achieve perpetual motion by combining magnetic and non-magnetic materials, for example, copper and iron, in the mechanism.
At the beginning of the 19th century, a self-taught Scottish inventor and shoemaker by profession, Spence, announced that he had found such a miracle substance and had already allegedly built two perfectly working machines. For some time this news became a sensation. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that Spence simply cheated.
ENGINEER PAYNE'S CAR
The development of electrical engineering had barely begun when the inventors of perpetual motion machines immediately took its capabilities into their arsenal.
The most popular “perpetuum mobile” project based on current strength was a circuit where an electric motor drove a generator, which, in turn, fed energy to the same motor without any losses. As a result, the circuit had to work forever without any recharging. It is characteristic that applications for such inventions were submitted not only by self-taught people, but even by certified engineers.
Every now and then there were rumors that a certain talented engineer from the outback allegedly invented a generator capable of continuously operating a 20-horsepower motor using atmospheric electricity! However, no one saw this miracle generator with their own eyes.
But in 1870 a sensation occurred.
A certain engineer Payne demonstrated his electromagnetic machine in Newark, New Jersey. This rather bulky structure was installed on the second floor of a large production building.
Payne's machine received an impulse from a small electric battery, after which all its mechanisms and components began to move non-stop. The machine was inspected by specialists who stated that it could be used for work in lathe shops, sawmills and even on river boats!
The inventor, who immediately became a celebrity, announced that the machine could be made even more perfect if certain funds were invested in its modification. He supposedly has wonderful ideas, the implementation of which will allow for serial production of a unique new product. Soon he created a company, and the shares went like hot cakes.
Another version of a wheeled perpetual motion machine
The inventor's business was going well until Dr. Henry Morton from Newark became interested in his brainchild. Morton insisted that the inventor give him the opportunity to examine the machine more closely.
Since the case had become public, and further success largely depended on Morton's conclusion, Payne did not resist this check. Morton 8 studied the machine’s mechanisms for several days, almost with a magnifying glass in his hands, but did not find any trick.
The machine was still turned on by a small battery, after which it worked all day without stopping until Payne himself turned it off.
This usually happened around six o'clock in the evening. Morton was ready to admit the authenticity of the invention, but decided to arrange another test, because he was still in doubt.
That day he involuntarily stayed until the evening. Suddenly the car stopped. Morton automatically glanced at his watch: it was six in the evening. He asked Payne to turn on the car for a little while longer, but he, clearly embarrassed, replied that a certain part had broken down. But Morton had already guessed the true reason for the stop.
On the floor below there was a workshop equipped with a conventional steam engine. The workshop finished work at exactly six o'clock in the evening. Obviously, Payne's installation was connected to a well-camouflaged drive from a steam engine, and the battery served only as a decoy.
The very next day Payne disappeared along with his car. But part of the metal frame that was used for mounting the installation remained in the room. The frame turned out to be hollow inside, and the size of the cavity was such that it was quite possible to disguise the drive belt coming from the lower workshop in it.
Thus, another “electrical” myth about a perpetual motion machine burst.
PERPETUAL NANOMOTOR
Nanotechnology is undergoing rapid development these days. And now they are already talking about the possibility of creating a perpetual motion machine based on them. There are reports in serious publications about the first successes in this direction.
Not in amateur workshops, but in well-known scientific centers, such as the University of California, Barcelona, Bologna and others, a nanoengine that does not require chemical fuel has allegedly already been created.
Shaped like a tiny dumbbell with a ring on the handle, it completes a full cycle in less than one thousandth of a second. This process can be compared to the operation of a car engine, which makes 60 thousand strokes per minute.
Now all that remains is to create surface coatings and membranes from many such nanomotors working in concert. They will produce mechanical work in any given volume.
The highlight here is that the nanoengine, strictly speaking, does not belong to the category of “perpetuum mobile”, since it consumes energy in the process of its work, it only takes it from “free”, “inexhaustible” sources - from sunlight, due to temperature differences, changes in atmospheric pressure... But from the point of view of the average consumer, that is, each of us, such an engine, of course, is “eternal”, since it does not require any recharging.
Whether it will be possible to create it for mass and convenient use, whether it will become widespread in our everyday life, or whether it will remain at the level of scientific experiments, the not-so-distant future will show.