In the seventeenth and eighteenth century, some scientists were obsessed with bu
ID: 1464126 • Letter: I
Question
In the seventeenth and eighteenth century, some scientists were obsessed with building a “perpetual motion machine” – a self-sustaining machine that would run on its own forever, without any external help (imagine an extremely clever folk claiming that he has invented a ceiling fan that requires no electricity; because the wind energy generated by the motion of the fan’s blades is captured and used to run the fan itself). Explain why this fan or any other “perpetual motion machine” is impossible to build.
Explanation / Answer
Because of scientific laws and theories generally deem perpetual motion impossible.Perpetual motion machines would only be possible if a substance could be found that generated more energy than it used. Some inventors hoped that radioactive materials would prove to be useful in this way, but their energy is still considered finite. Magnets have also been used to power would-be perpetual motion machines, but their continued operation often requires some external energy source. Gravity is usually considered a force hostile to perpetual motion, but some inventors use gravity to their advantage when creating theoretical machines. similalry fan or any other “perpetual motion machine” is impossible to build..