# Perpetual Motion



## rayparkerjr (Oct 20, 2008)

Does anyone here believe that perpetual motion can be achieved? I heard some people at MIT got a magnet to spin in a vacuum lol.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I worked on a system that was close-to a perpetual motion. It consisted of a car battery, two 130 watt alternators and a small 12-volt motor that was given to me (it was sitting in a friends basement).

The power system was connected together via 1 gauge welder's cable (it was laying around, probably could have used lighter gauge). The motor powered the alternators, the alternators powered the battery and the battery powered the motor. Full circle power generation system.

The battery also ran a small series of lights.

The original test was to see how long will the battery power the lights (without re-charge) and I was able to power for approx. 36 hours.

Running the battery / motor / alternator system I was able to run the lights for 6 weeks. I am convinced that if I felt like it, I could have continued on even longer.

What I believe was happening (I am not a power-systems engineer) is that the one alternator made the motor run, after the battery got it going in the first place. The other alternator supplied the battery with its continuous power and the battery then was able to provide the required power to the lights.

Now, there will be maintenance on the system - the alternators will burn out (bushings, bearings, etc) and the motor will also burn out (same kind of problems) and the battery will reach an "end-of-shelf-life" ... but, as long as all the parts are functioning at the fullest capacity, it could give a couple of years of service.

Not quite perpetual - but - pretty damn close.


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## JeepHammer (Oct 10, 2008)

Nope, not even close...

First of all, even the most efficient generators need about 30% more power input in the form of mechanical energy to operate than they produce...
So that would be a 30% loss right there for EACH alternator.

Car alternators are only about 50% efficient, meaning they produce about half the power that is input into them.
Aerodynamic losses to the rotor and fan in the alternators,
Heat ejected from both the windings and rectifier, ect.

That doesn't account for belt slipping losses (all belts slip),
Friction Losses in pulley & bearing systems.
---------------------------

Superconductors, which could be a small magnet spinning in a super cold environment and a vacuum for an atmosphere,
Could be very close...

But it's not 'Perpetual Motion' since the atmosphere and environment are man made and require energy input to produce and maintain.


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## thegroove (Oct 21, 2008)

How long would the lights go off of just the battery?


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## Prince (Oct 21, 2008)

crazy but we need to see whats under table (could be an electric motor producing a field under it)


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## Smithy (Oct 15, 2008)

Nice idea, trying to break the laws of thermodynamics. Any Perpetual Motion machine, is at best, a very low-loss system. Let me ask you this, though... can you run your fridge off it? Grind your wheat? What's special about these highly efficient things (operating at very low loads) when it comes to conventional power requirements? It sure ain't gonna mow the lawn.


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## digapony (Oct 22, 2008)

Could you put a conductor near it to where it generates and a magnet in the center of the wheel?


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## Blister (Oct 21, 2008)

Honestly, I do believe that perpetual motion is possible. It's also important to remember that Nikola Tesla also believed it. He worked on several projects in order to get what he himself termed as "free energy" but the data gathered from them has disappeared from the public eye.

For those who don't know who Nikola Tesla is, here is what wikipedia says concerning him:



> Nikola Tesla (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла) (10 July 1856 - 7 January 1943) was an inventor and a mechanical and electrical engineer. Born in Smiljan, Croatia, (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), he was an ethnic Serb subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and later became an American citizen. Tesla is often described as the most important scientist and inventor of the modern age, a man who "shed light over the face of Earth". He is best known for many revolutionary contributions in the field of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla's patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current electric power (AC) systems, including the polyphase power distribution systems and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution. Contemporary biographers of Tesla have regarded him as "The Father of Physics", "The man who invented the twentieth century" and "the patron saint of modern electricity."
> 
> After his demonstration of wireless communication (radio) in 1894 and after being the victor in the "War of Currents", he was widely respected as one of the greatest electrical engineers who worked in America. Much of his early work pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance. During this period, in the United States, Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist in history or popular culture, but due to his eccentric personality and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments, Tesla was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist. Never having put much focus on his finances, Tesla died impoverished at the age of 86.
> 
> ...


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## Publius (Nov 27, 2008)

JeepHammer said:


> Nope, not even close...
> 
> First of all, even the most efficient generators need about 30% more power input in the form of mechanical energy to operate than they produce...
> So that would be a 30% loss right there for EACH alternator.
> ...


I agree 100% NO such animal, never will be either. Pure physics.


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