Perpetual Motion With Magnets

Dr. S.S. Verma, Department of Physics, S.L.I.E.T., Longowal, Distt-Sangrur (Punjab)-148106

2019-04-03 04:56:06

Credit: pexels.com

Credit: pexels.com

Perpetual motion has always been a topic of interest for scientists and engineers.  They think to change the work and thus energy consuming specific world of activities by making use of a perpetual machine.  But this type of adventure is simply opposed by basic laws of nature/science such as we cannot get work done without the dissipation of energy or vice-versa.  Perpetual motion machines will lead towards unlimited supplies of energy.

However, in the era of information explosion through the internet, there a number of videos and articles available/posted which highlight as well as demonstrate about the possibility of perpetual motion/machines and generally these machines are said to make use of magnets.  

It is thus relevant to look into the matter in an impartial manner to see about the possibility of such a motion which should not defy the nature/science principles like “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another”.  Science and engineering students also get attracted towards the concept of perpetual motion and are involved in designing such projects to present in science and engineering contests. A complete elimination of friction is the necessity for a true perpetual motion machine which can be achieved through magnetic levitation in which a body is made to float on the other due to magnetic forces. Thus, magnetic levitation phenomenon exhibited by superconducting state of a material is also proving a milestone towards realizing perpetual motion. 

In physics, a force is any interaction, which tends to change the motion of an object. In other words any force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (which includes to begin moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. It means we can successfully use gravity force, spring force and attractive/repulsive force of permanent magnets for obtaining energy by direct conversion of physical force action into mechanical movement and thus into the work and energy. Unfortunately, we do not know anything about energy source provides the gravitational pull of objects toward each other also as we know nothing about the sources of energy of elasticity (spring force) and attractive/repulsive force of permanent magnets. Nevertheless, this cannot stop us successfully use these forces to generate energy. Science says this kind of machine is impossible, as it would violate the first or second law of thermodynamics. It is well known that patent office’s grant patents on these machines, and it looks like they run contrary to the statements of thermodynamics. However, these machines operate in full accordance with the laws of physics because each of mentioned forces have an own source of energy providing their operation and there is no contradiction to the laws of thermodynamics.

Reality of free energy magnetic motor

Magnets are plenty useful in conventional energy conversion systems. They’re essential in the generators which convert chemical or nuclear energy to electrical forms via mechanical forms, and in the motors which convert that back to mechanical energy. As for the ’alternative’ uses, in which the magnets are supposed to be sources of limitless energy themselves, they’re fakes, pure and simple. They violate fundamental physical laws, so it’s not surprising that they never actually work when tested by someone who isn’t selling stock in some bogus company. Many have tried building a free energy-producing magnetic motor and the whole process of transforming the free magnetic energy into mechanical energy is unexplained. There are many misunderstandings and misconceptions about magnets and magnetism as well as what they can really do. Many non-technical people perceive magnets as mysterious objects containing unlimited energy, thus opening the door towards the mythical perpetual motion and free energy generation. In reality magnets can only generate static fields. Also, their polarity cannot be reversed. If only magnets are employed in both the stator and rotor of a motor, almost immediately the motor locks. Even if we place the magnets of the stator in such a way they initially repel the magnets of the rotor, after a fraction of rotation the magnetic forces reach equilibrium and the shaft stops rotating. We can try to change the number of magnets used in the stator and rotor, their position, orientation, and strength, but the result is still the same: the magnetic forces reach equilibrium and the shaft does not rotate any more. Even in more complicated arrangements using multiple rotors with shafts geared together, sooner or later the magnetic fields reach equilibrium and the motor stops working. However, to get a running motor we need to use electromagnets besides magnets or just electromagnets. In fact, the polarity of electromagnets can be reversed by changing the direction of the current flowing in their coils. This can be used to make sure that there is a continuous magnetic repulsion between the magnets of the stator and the ones of the rotor, while the rotor is rotating. If the voltage source is DC, we need also to introduce a mechanism to power the electromagnets in such a way that while the rotor turns, they always repel the magnets in the stator. Obviously, we no longer have a free energy motor, but just an ordinary motor which needs an external source of energy to work.

The making of a perpetual motion machine has always been a fantastic dream. There are many attempts along history, but always the same ending: perpetual motion continues being a legend. Scientists and inventors alike have attempted to use permanent magnets alone to drive a motor. Others dismissed the notion of a motor driven by permanent magnets alone as defying the laws of thermodynamics. We did not understand the source of the electromagnetic energy responsible for the magnetic forces. There are several theories in physics that propose the source of the electromagnetic energy, which is carried by streams of virtual photons emanating from the atomic electron. Whatever the source may be, it is intrinsic and abundant. The notion of a motor driven by permanent magnets alone is therefore feasible and cannot be dismissed as defying conservation of energy. It is easy to imagine how the attraction and repulsion power strokes of the permanent magnets can be used to generate continuous motion similar to the design of a conventional electric motor or a combustion engine. Demos show how several pairs of magnets connected together can produce continued motion by using the magnets at both ends of their travel. It is amazing, if not breathtaking, to see two permanent magnets with opposite poles facing generate simultaneous equatorial (horizontal) attraction and polar (vertical) repulsion, which can be used to generate an attraction and repulsion sequence. In this manner, energy does not have to be spent to pull the magnets apart after they attract and do work for us. Instead, the magnets separate themselves. Both the attraction and repulsion phases can do work for us, such as driving an electric generator.

Last words

A permanent magnet motor would not produce energy and would not be a perpetual motion machine. Instead, it would simply use the electromagnetic energy delivered by the angular momentum of the electron in the form of magnetic forces. Although quantum physics has described angular momentum as the source of energy, there remain some scientists and lay people who hold onto the incorrect paradigm that views permanent magnet motors as defying the basic laws of physics. Perpetual motion works on paper but in the real world things break down. The breakdown rate for magnets ranges from 2 years all the way to 500 years. So it will last your lifetime but just because it out lives you and your kids, so on and so forth, does not make it perpetual it will end at some point.