Is overbalanced wheel possible?

An overbalanced wheel is one form of device that has been frequently attempted in the quest for a perpetual machine. This is impossible as it violates the laws of thermodynamics. However, an unbalanced mass can respond to external energy inputs, which is therefore not the same as perpetual motion.

Is the overbalanced wheel a perpetual motion machine?

perpetual motion …and the oldest, is the overbalanced wheel. In a typical version, flexible arms are attached to the outer rim of a vertically mounted wheel. An inclined trough is arranged to transfer rolling weights from folded arms on one side of the wheel to fully extended arms on the other.

Why does the overbalanced wheel not work?

Since the wheel’s motion is cyclic, and the motion of the mass is cyclic, the work done on the mass by gravity as the mass moves down is of equal size to the work it does against gravity moving back up. So the two processes acting together will do no net work on the wheel during each cycle.

Why is Bhaskara’s wheel not a perpetual motion machine?

Like all perpetual-motion machines, Bhaskara’s wheel is a long-discredited mechanism. This would have to be done actively, thus consuming energy in the process — and so the machine would cease to be a perpetual-motion engine.

Is there such thing as an overbalanced wheel?

Overbalanced wheels are of little interest to the physicist, for physicists understand, from many well-established laws and many lines of argument, that even if there were such a thing as perpetual motion, this is certainly not the way to achieve it.

Are there any wheels with a shifting mass?

From the 8 th century to the present time inventors have sought to achieve perpetual motion by use of wheels with shifting weights. None have worked, but that doesn’t stop people from using the same idea again and again, altering mechanical details, often with incredibly complex designs. I call this “reinventing the square wheel”.

Why is the rope on a wheel lock overbalanced?

This happens because the rope does negative work on the stone during the change of radius. If the rope is “let out” gradually, or if the rope only exerts force to stop the stone at the new radius, the force the rope exerts on the stone is opposite to the stone’s displacement. Therefore the rope does negative work on the stone.

Why is the mass of a wheel equal to its mass?

Since the wheel’s motion is cyclic, and the motion of the mass is cyclic, the work done on the mass by gravity as the mass moves down is of equal size to the work it does against gravity moving back up. There’s no gain in net energy per cycle. One of the most fundamental and well-tested facts of physics is that forces combine by vector addition.