8.2: Why don't mechanical perpetual motion machines work?
Description
This article is from the Scientific Skepticism FAQ, by Paul Johnson Paul@treetop.demon.co.uk with numerous contributions by others.
8.2: Why don't mechanical perpetual motion machines work?
Mechanical perpetual motion machines depend on rising and descending
weights. The problem is that the amount of energy that you get out of
a descending weight is exactly the same amount that it took to raise
the weight in the first place: gravity is said to be a "conservative"
force. So no matter what the weights do, you can't get energy out.
Continue to:
My Books
