What is the mechanism of an ornament that seems to have realized a perpetual motion machine?
A 'perpetual motion machine' that can continue working without applying energy from outside is impossible in the real world. However, figurines that look like perpetual motion machines are being sold on the Internet. Science YouTuber Steve Mold obtained this ``an ornament that looks like a perpetual motion machine'' and explains how it works.
The ``original that seems to have realized a perpetual motion machine'' that Mr. Mold is referring to is the following product. If you look at the sample movie , you can see that the movement of ``a metal ball that fell from the upper plate rolls on the rail, jumps from the rail and returns to the original plate'' is repeated endlessly. If no energy is applied, it is impossible for the metal ball to return to its original location, so some kind of mechanism is used.
In the individual that Mr. Mold obtained, the metal ball returned to its original plate, similar to the sample movie. In other words, the sample movie is not created by video editing, but actually behaves like a perpetual motion machine.
Mr. Mold obtained two ``figurines that resemble perpetual motion machines'' and replaced the wood part of one with a transparent material so that the mechanism inside could be seen.
There is some sort of electronic device built into the figurine.
However, it seems that some kind of problem occurred when recombining it with a transparent material, and it became impossible to reproduce the perpetual motion machine-like movement.
Therefore, Mr. Mold contacted Mr. William Lee, the creator of the figurine, and had him specially create a ``version in which wood was replaced with a transparent material.'' This transparent version allows you to see what's inside, and also operates like a perpetual motion machine.
As you can see from its internal appearance, the perpetual motion machine-like figurine is operated by some kind of mechanism that uses electricity. Even if you roll the metal ball with the power off, the metal ball will not gain enough kinetic energy to return to the plate because its potential energy will be lost due to friction with the rail. In other words, 'some mechanism that uses electricity' gives kinetic energy to the metal ball and accelerates it.
An electromagnet adds kinetic energy to the metal ball. The magnetic force attracts the metal ball and accelerates it.
If you use a permanent magnet instead of an electromagnet, the metal ball will stick to the magnet and won't move. In other words, it is necessary to ``switch the electromagnet on and off at the right time to prevent the metal ball from sticking to the electromagnet.''
In order to determine when to turn the electromagnet on and off, a metal sensor is embedded in the part before reaching the electromagnet.
Let's measure the time that power is supplied to the electromagnet.
It turns out that power is only being supplied for about 10 milliseconds. In other words, power is supplied to the electromagnet for 10 milliseconds after the sensor detects the metal ball, and the metal ball is pulled and accelerated by that momentary magnetic force.
By the way, power is stored in a capacitor and then supplied to an electromagnet. For this reason, if you continuously drop metal balls in a short period of time, a phenomenon will occur where the second and subsequent balls will not return properly to the plate.
The blue parts attached to the board allow you to set the 'voltage applied to the electromagnet' and 'time for which power is supplied'. All of the perpetual motion machine-like figurines are handmade by Mr. Lee, so there may be slight differences in the inclination of the rails, etc. For this reason, it is necessary to make fine adjustments using blue parts before shipping.
If the power switch is visible somewhere on the figurine, the atmosphere will be spoiled. For this reason, the power switch uses a touch type.
A touch switch is embedded in the part where your finger is placed in the image below.
The built-in rechargeable battery is the power source, and charging is done from the bottom of the figurine. With these ingenuity, it looks as if a perpetual motion machine has been realized.
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• Discord | 'Have you ever tried to make a perpetual motion machine?' | GIGAZINE
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