Perpetual Motion Inventions
For centuries, scientists and inventors toiled to create a bona fide perpetual motion machine. Leonardo da Vinci, who also dabbled in the study of perpetual motion, came to the inevitable conclusion that such an invention was not possible.
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Perpetual Motion Defined
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To be successful, a perpetual motion invention needs to operate ceaselessly and generate its own energy--more energy than it expends. Because an invention of this type would theoretically violate several laws of physics, no true perpetual motion machines are thought to have existed.
Earliest Documentation
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Bhaskara, a 12th century Indian mathematician and astronomer, described the first perpetual motion machine as a wheel with partially filled containers of mercury attached along its rim. As the containers reached the top of the turning wheel, they gained more torque---force that causes an object to turn--and drew the wheel forward.
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Using Magnets
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Magnets and lodestones were often used in later perpetual motion inventions. A 17th century invention by Bishop John Wilkins included a metal ball that was designed to be pulled up a ramp by a magnet. Ideally, the ball should have dropped through the hole and repeated the process forever, but didn't.
Fluids and Siphons
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Other perpetual motion inventions speculated on using the continuous siphoning of fluids such as water or mercury. The science involved was flawed because fluids will only rise to a certain point, depending on the height of all containers and tubes involved.
Failed Designs
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By 1775, so many failed perpetual motion designs had appeared that the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris refused to accept any future perpetual motion invention proposals.
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