10 Fascinating Attempts at Creating Perpetual
Motion 10. Boyle’s Self-Flowing Flask One of the simplest ideas for a perpetual
motion machine comes from the 17th century Irish chemist and physicist Robert Boyle. His design is simply to have a tank of water
with a hose on the bottom that runs water from the tank directly back into the same
tank. Of course, this system doesn’t work because
gravity doesn’t work that way. For water to leave the tank, it needs to flow
to a container that is lower than the original one. If you don’t believe us, you can test this
with materials around your home or you can easily buy some at a dollar store. But what if there was a chemical fluid that
could be used that constantly reacted and pushed the liquid through the hose? For example, in the video above, the YouTuber
tries beer (good choice!) and it at least pushes liquid through the hose. The problem is that the cycle would stop when
the beer stops carbonating. However, again, finding a chemical that never
stops reacting is just as impossible as creating any other type of perpetual motion machine. 9. Monopole Magnet Magnets have two poles, north and south, and
opposite poles pull magnets together while the same poles push them apart. But there are also hypothetical monopole magnet
particles that would only have one pole. In 2014, researchers created synthetic monopole
magnet particles, 85 years after they were first theorized. Despite them only recently being discovered,
some YouTubers claim to have built or bought one, and there are some magnets that are claimed
to be monopole on Alibaba. Of course, we have to say, buyer beware. If we could construct monopole magnets, they
could possibly lead to free energy. In the video for this entry, a man creates
a supposed free energy machine using a few dollars’ worth of material from a hardware
store and a monopole magnet he bought on eBay. He hammers two nails into a board, and cuts
tiny slits in the nails to hold the wire that is formed into a ring. In between the two nails and under the ring,
he places the magnet, which causes the coiled wire to spin, creating energy. The biggest problem with this type of machine,
besides the lack of scientific evidence that monopole magnets are real, is that there is
too much friction on the materials so they would have to be replaced, meaning this would
never be a true perpetual motion machine. 8. Rolling Ball Wheel This attempt at a perpetual motion machine
was designed by German mathematician, scientist, and physicist Jacob Leupold and the design
was published in his Theatrum Machinarum Generale Vol. 1 in 1724. The machine uses an overbalancing wheel and
rolling balls. The idea is that the balls will always be
rolling, which shifts the weight of the wheel, and gravity simply takes over. Sadly, while it may sound like this might
work in theory, it doesn’t because it needs external help to keep moving. 7. Water Mill and Pump It’s believed designs for the water mill
and pump perpetual motion machine, and variations of it, have been around since the 1600s, and
quite possibly earlier than that. The idea is that water falls from the top
of the machine, which makes the water mill turn, and that ultimately powers the pump
that brings the water back to the top, creating a cycle of energy. The problem is that there is too much friction
involved with the design and it actually doesn’t work outside of computer models. So, back the old drawing board, we suppose? Geez, you expect better out of your 17th century
scientific theorists. 6. Paul Scheerbart’s Weight-Driven Cogwheel German born Paul Scheerbart wasn’t a mathematician
or an engineer like many of the other inventors on this list. Instead, he was a writer known for his work
in the fantastic genre. Despite a lack of formal training, Scheerbart
spent two and a half years trying to build a perpetual motion machine in the laundry
room of his house. His machine – which looks strangely familiar
– was finally revealed in 1910 in his book The Perpetual Motion Machine: The Story of
an Invention. The system uses one giant wheel and two sets
of smaller rollers and a weight. The problem with his design, like many other
perpetual motion machines, is that the main cogwheel needs external power to keep its
momentum. That being said, it is still the best perpetual
motion machine designed by a fiction writer. 5. Magnets and Gravity A physical constant on Earth is gravity, which
is bad news if you’re a terrible yet dedicated tightrope walker, but it is good news in terms
of creating perpetual motion machines because it is a constant source of force. An attempt at a perpetual motion machine that
utilizes that force is the perpetual wheel that was patented in 1823. It’s a fairly simple set up: a large wheel
is turned by a small iron ball that is being pulled towards the magnet. While the video above may look like this is
feasible, the wheel does not actually spin like that without external help; also, after
some time, magnets become demagnetized, meaning it is not an unlimited source of energy. 4. Force of Gravity Perpetual Motion Machine This so-called perpetual motion machine uses
two vertical rods. The rod at the center is straight, but the
second one is tilted. Then there are three horizontal bars that
run across the two vertical bars, connecting both vertical rods. Finally, there is a weight that is attached
to the center rod. This means that the counter-clockwise torque
and clockwise torque are equal, and since the torques are the same, the vertical rod
pushes more on the bottom arm than it does on the top arm. Since the top and bottom rods are the same
distance from the vertical axles, there is more torque pushing one way than the other,
allowing the system to spin. A writer at Wired analyzed this specific video
and believes there are hidden motors in the machine. If there aren’t, then he believes the spin
is caused by angular momentum and torque. That means it would spin for a while, but
not perpetually. 3. Neodymium Magnets The strongest batteries commercially available
are neodymium magnets, which were developed by General Motors in 1982. This design takes advantage of these batteries
and creates momentum by placing magnets with the same poles against each other on a wheel. When two magnets with the same pole meet,
they push each other apart and in this case, it spins the wheel. A bonus with this design is that it is frictionless,
which is an especially big bonus over other proposed perpetual motion machines because
friction leads to entropy – meaning the machine will eventually slow down. The main reason this isn’t a true perpetual
motion machine is because the magnets will eventually stop working and will need to be
replaced. 2. Perepiteia Thane Heins is a Canadian college dropout
who has been working on a perpetual motion machine called Perepiteia since 1985. Heins is so dedicated to the machine that
he says that he lost his wife and custody over his two children over it. So, you know, his priorities may be slightly
skewed. Nevertheless, Heins says he is so dedicated
because he claims that the machine has the ability to generate a large amount of power
from a little electrical input, thought to be impossible. What’s interesting is that the tests show
that the generator somehow turns magnetic friction into a magnetic boost, which causes
the motor to accelerate, creating a positive feedback loop. If the tests are correct, that would mean
that Perepiteia breaks the first law of thermodynamics. It’s like a light bulb that powers itself
using energy from its own light. In 2008, Heins showed Perepiteia to MIT professor
Markus Zahn, who is an expert in electromagnetic and electronic systems. Zahn said Perepiteia originally stumped him
and the machine was definitely worth looking into. But, he later clarified it was not a perpetual
motion machine because it needed to be plugged into the wall. Yet Zahn says that the machine still could
be an important discovery that could improve motors. Although there are many skeptics, Heins is
hoping that his invention will lead to electrical cars that power themselves through accelerating
and braking. 1. Finsrud’s Perpetuum Mobile A lot of these proposed machines are fairly
simplistic and use a minimal amount of parts. On the other end of the spectrum is a supposed
perpetual motion machine by Norwegian sculptor and mathematician Reidar Finsrud. It’s a complicated system that uses a wheel,
magnets, and pendulums. Its system ensures the wheel is always dipping,
so the ball, which is pulled by magnets, is always rolling around the track. Supposedly during testing done over the course
of three days, the ball maintained a constant speed measured to 1/25 of a second. An engineer who studied the machine said it
could maintain 80-90 percent efficiency, while most devices, like a combustion engine, only
have 30-50 percent efficiency. Finsrud claims that his machine has an efficiency
rate of over 100 percent, and therefore it creates free energy. Finsrud believes that his machine, if built
to the proper scale, could provide free energy to the world. He is also worried his machine might be too
revolutionary, so he’s forced to keep it locked in a safe in his basement. So while it may not be a true perpetual motion
machine, it is an impressive feat of engineering.
