My coworker is telling me that perpetual motion exists and shows me a video of a guy using the siphoning effect on some water cans.
I’m telling him that perpetual motion, physically, cannot exist.
But why would it not work?
In: Physics
Ok so the basics of the perpetual motion is defined as “a system which requires no external source of power to function once set in motion”. For example if in space you pushed a block and if there were no gravity affecting it and no space debris or anything hindering its motion, it would move in a straight line forever. The answer why siphoning systems are not perpetual motion is because it requires there to be a potential energy difference which adds power to the system.
So whilst in effect is a perpetual motion machine, in definition it is not.
But the more important definition for it which is beyond a curiosity and makes a perpetual motion machine useful is “a system which can provide power without requiring external forces once set in motion”. So for example the sun, whilst requiring a great deal of energy to get started provides energy for free. But the sun is not a perpetual motion machine since it will die off one day once all the initial energy is used (in very basic terms (advanced terms this is not wholly correct but that is beside the point)).
So whilst a siphoning system can run “forever” (Heavy use on the quotations marks there because it is not a true statement but in terms of human life span could maybe be considered valid in the same way the sun is not a perpetual motion machine). It requires an external power source which is gravity. And cannot provide more power than what is coming in. So even if it can be classed as a perpetual motion machine (which it cannot) it is a pointless one either way since it does not produce power.
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