Forum sponsored by:

Perpetual Motion

Search for: in Thread Title in

Jeff Dayman	12/02/2010 20:04:45
2356 forum posts 47 photos	I noted that a letter from MrPhipps regarding his theories on perpetual motion and conspiracy to suppress technology for it was published in ME 4370. Frankly I am surprised that such a letter would be published, open as it is to flaming from all and sundry with engineering backgrounds. There is also the possibility that the conspiracy theorists among the readership may start a lengthy campaign. I would not like to see page space in ME filled with this drivel. Would it not have been better to leave it out and spare Mr Phipps the potential needling and eventual embarrassment of the flaming? Edited By Jeff Dayman on 12/02/2010 20:07:31
Paul Boscott	12/02/2010 20:14:25
99 forum posts 21 photos	I would like to take this old chestnut down a different route whilst I assume that most of us will agree that perpetual motion can not exist. What about free energy along the lines of something powered by the gravity or light or some other force that is currently not tapped? Not perpetual motion but just a decade or so.??? Paul
Geoff Theasby	12/02/2010 20:27:58
615 forum posts 21 photos	I suggest that this letter was published in order to show up the writer. It is obvious that the premise is flawed, but is it worth the effort in order to show the writer how? This is a subject which has been covered many times before. Regards Geoff
David Clark 1	13/02/2010 09:17:53
3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles	Hi There A bit of controversy helps fill the letters page. I would not let it get out of hand though. regards David
KWIL	13/02/2010 10:17:16
3681 forum posts 70 photos	I am sorry but the charge should be "bringing a respected publication into disrepute" There are enough cranks and politicians out there without encouraging own own. I thought for a moment I had got the date wrong!
Peter Gain	13/02/2010 12:07:37
103 forum posts	I agree that Mr Phipps cannot be taken seriously but for anyone wishing to pursue the subject, several books have been written about this. A visit to the local library & with the assistance of a sympathetic librarian will unearth some incredible Victorian ideas. To the Victorians, these proposals were offered as serious contenders for the "holy grail" of perpetual motion. To the modern reader they make an amusing diversion for a wet Sunday afternoon. Whilst they are all flawed, the ingenuity of the inventers is quite amazing! Peter Gain.
Laurence B	13/02/2010 12:13:52
58 forum posts	Clearly Mr.Phipps does not understand the basic laws of physics.It concerns me that there are people like Mr.Phipps who think they know,and clearly don't.
Jeff Dayman	13/02/2010 13:32:51
2356 forum posts 47 photos	David Clark - not acceptable to me for an editor of ME to purposely wind people up in public print. This is the second time- I remember the Peter King letter re Mr Bellamy. You want to have a joke on someone, fine, suggest you go down to the pub. In a respected hobby magazine, it's not OK. KWIL - I agree it does bring the mag into disrepute, or easily could do so. I had the same thought about the month, but we're to early. Even as a joke though, because it is directed at an individual with malicious intent to incite controversy, I would say it's not acceptable.
V8Eng	13/02/2010 13:55:01
1826 forum posts 1 photos	I think that theories about perpetual motion will re-occur as long as mankind exists. . Edited By V8Eng on 13/02/2010 14:14:34
chris stephens	14/02/2010 00:33:59
1049 forum posts 1 photos	Hi Guys, You castigate our Editor for publishing letters perpetuating myths, in a "respected publication" and letter writers for believing such tosh. Well, I think the average reader is well aware of the myth of perpetual motion and sees such scribblings as a amusing side show, not to be taken seriously. There is no way an averagely intelligent reader would take the Editor publishing letters on this subject as, in anyway, advocating the plausibility of any supposed methods. Get real chaps! chriStephens
KWIL	14/02/2010 10:00:35
3681 forum posts 70 photos	I am more than supportive of our present Editor, however I think it was a shame that valuable letter space was taken up by such drivel, space that we, the Readers, actually pay for. So perhaps we can all let it rest there and move on? Edited By KWIL on 14/02/2010 10:01:38
Ian S C	14/02/2010 10:14:45
7468 forum posts 230 photos	Was having a look on the net on the subject,came across the first person to publish a work on the subject,a French architect by the name of Villard de Honnecourt in the year 1235 AD.I then went on futher and saw an ad for a perpetual motion machine-batteries included,I think that says all. Ian S C
David Clark 1	14/02/2010 12:11:26
3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles	Hi There There was no intention to upset the letter writer. A little bit of argument keeps the letter pages going. Also, Phillip Bellamy wrote me an apology after I published that letter. I often get letters complaining I have not published 'THEIR' letter. regards David
IanT	14/02/2010 14:36:12
2147 forum posts 222 photos	Personally, i've always thought a gravity-fed source of free enery was entirely possible - povided I could find an infinitely deep hole. Don't let's get too upset about these things...
Stub Mandrel	14/02/2010 17:37:29
4318 forum posts 291 photos 1 articles	I don't think there's anything wrong with the concept of perpetual motion. Newton pointed out that a body will remain at rest or in a state of continuous motion unless acted on by an external force. All you need to do is reduce frictional and other losses to zero - in other words a closed system is a perpetual motion machine. The electrons whizzing around a superconducting magnet are effectively in perpetual motion. Of course the real problem is the 'closed system' bit, even if one of these brave siouls achieved perpetual motion, they still can't get energy for nothing - they start taking it out and the machine slows down. More interesting is the possibility of generating energy at a quantum level - Maxwell's demon anyone? Neil
mgj	14/02/2010 18:11:36
1017 forum posts 14 photos	Yes, but don't you have to put energy into the magnet to keep it cold enough to be a superconductor. What about laser ring gyros - same idea, but even then light passing through a fibre optic generates heat......(not very much!) but you do get a phase shift eventually.?
Mark Smith 3	15/02/2010 06:00:10
175 forum posts 36 photos	According to our knowledge of thermo dynamics not only can you not get more from a system than you put into it, you cannot even get close (Carnot). There have been supposed perpetual motion machines in the past but they were usually fraudulant attempts to fool the punters out of their money; a little man hidden in the works cranking a handle. I do remember reading about a big ben type clock in Britain that was claimed to be perpetual motion as it ran for 150 years without any visible energy input. But one day it stopped and required servicing. The engineers discovered that it ran on variations in atmospheric pressure so it was essentially solar powered. I'm not sure if this was just legend, but it is a good story. A friend of mine, seemingly an intellegent person, suggested that if you connect a generator to the driving wheels of an electric car you should be able to power the drive motor from that and do away with the batteries. After I picked my jaw off the ground I spent a good hour trying to get him to understand something about energy - not sure I succeeded. On the day this thread appeared there was a link at the top of the page to a perpetual motion site that I followed and it described a magnetic machine of truely huge proportions that generated massive amounts of power from nothing! I don't think so - unless it taps into some unknown and hitherto undiscovered source of Universe energy. In the mean time I will sceptically stay with Sadi Carnot. Mark Edited By Mark Smith 3 on 15/02/2010 06:02:02
Martin W	15/02/2010 10:45:48
940 forum posts 30 photos	Neil Maxwell's Demon is alive and well, if my understanding of extreme cooling is correct. To get extremely low temps, a few milli kelvin above absolute zero, a magnetic or optical well/trap is created in which a few, relatively speaking, atoms are contained. The shape of the trap allows the more energetic atoms to climb the walls and then with the help of a finely tuned laser they are removed from the trap, the demon has opened the door to the high energy atoms, and hence energy has been removed from the group. Continued removal of the higher energy atoms causes the cooling of the contained atoms as a cloud. Certainly not perpetual motion in any shape or form but Maxwell might have been interested!! Cheers Martin W
Barry Kneller	15/02/2010 11:31:54
3 forum posts	Posted by Mark Smith 3 on 15/02/2010 06:00:10: ......................... The engineers discovered that it ran on variations in atmospheric pressure so it was essentially solar powered. I'm not sure if this was just legend, but it is a good story................................ Mark Edited By Mark Smith 3 on 15/02/2010 06:02:02 Loads of info about a modern Atmospheric clock here : http://www.atmosadam.com/ - my next door nieghbour has one, just cost him a fortune to have it serviced.... Barry
V8Eng	15/02/2010 12:07:00
1826 forum posts 1 photos	Just to be a bit controversial, how about the following:- Prepetual motion does already exist and we live on a supreme example of that fact, (planet earth) Our sun also appears to be a perpetual power source.

1 2 Next > Last >>

All Topics | Latest Posts

Please login to post a reply.

Magazine Locator

Want the latest issue of Model Engineer or Model Engineers' Workshop? Use our magazine locator links to find your nearest stockist!

Find Model Engineer & Model Engineers' Workshop

You can unsubscribe at anytime. View our privacy policy at www.mortons.co.uk/privacy

Latest Forum Posts

*Oct 2023: FORUM MIGRATION TIMELINE*
05/10/2023 07:57:11
Making ER11 collet chuck
05/10/2023 07:56:24
What did you do today? 2023
05/10/2023 07:25:01
Orrery
05/10/2023 06:00:41
Wera hand-tools
05/10/2023 05:47:07
New member
05/10/2023 04:40:11
Problems with external pot on at1 vfd
05/10/2023 00:06:32
Drain plug
04/10/2023 23:36:17
digi phase converter for 10 machines.....
04/10/2023 23:13:48
Winter Storage Of Locomotives
04/10/2023 21:02:11
More Latest Posts...
View All Topics

Support Our Partners

Shopping Partners

Subscription Offer

Latest "For Sale" Ads

Reeves** - Rebuilt Royal Scot by Martin Evans
by John Broughton
£300.00
BRITANNIA 5" GAUGE James Perrier
by Jon Seabright 1
£2,500.00
Drill Grinder - for restoration
by Nigel Graham 2
£0.00
WARCO WM18 MILLING MACHINE
by Alex Chudley
£1,200.00
MYFORD SUPER 7 LATHE
by Alex Chudley
£2,000.00
More "For Sale" Ads...

Latest "Wanted" Ads

D1-3 backplate
by Michael Horley
Price Not Specified
fixed steady for a Colchester bantam mark1 800
by George Jervis
Price Not Specified
lbsc pansy
by JACK SIDEBOTHAM
Price Not Specified
Pratt Burnerd multifit chuck key.
by Tim Riome
Price Not Specified
BANDSAW BLADE WELDER
by HUGH
Price Not Specified
More "Wanted" Ads...

Get In Touch!

Do you want to contact the Model Engineer and Model Engineers' Workshop team?

You can contact us by phone, mail or email about the magazines including becoming a contributor, submitting reader's letters or making queries about articles. You can also get in touch about this website, advertising or other general issues.

Click THIS LINK for full contact details.

For subscription issues please see THIS LINK.

Digital Back Issues