Why it is impossible to create a perpetual motion machine
Why it is impossible to create a perpetual motion machine
Perpetual motion is the dream of any scientist. This machine is capable of producing work indefinitely, without borrowing energy from outside. Objective physical laws showed the impossibility of the existence of a perpetual motion machine.
The history of perpetual motion
According to historical records, the first person,who offered to build a similar machine was an Indian scientist, who lived in the 12th century. It was at this time that the Crusades of Europeans began on the Holy Land. The development of craft, economy and technology required the development of new sources of energy. The popularity of the idea of a perpetual motion machine has grown rapidly. The scientists tried to build it, but their attempts failed. The idea became more popular in the 15-16th centuries with the development of manufactory production. The projects of the perpetual motion machine were offered by all who are not too lazy: from simple artisans who dreamed of establishing their small factory, to large scientists. Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei and other great researchers, after numerous attempts to create a perpetual motion, came to the general opinion that this is in principle impossible. The same opinion was reached by scientists who lived in the 19th century. Among them was Hermann Helmholtz and James Joule. They independently formulated the law of conservation of energy, characterizing the flow of all processes in the universe.Perpetual motion machine of the first kind
From this fundamental law followsthe impossibility of creating a perpetual motion machine of the first kind. The law of conservation of energy says that energy does not appear anywhere and does not disappear without a trace, but only takes on new forms for itself. The perpetual motion machine of the first kind is an imaginary system capable of doing work (ie, producing energy) for an unlimited time without access of energy from outside. A real similar system can do work only by counting the loss of its internal energy. But this work will be limited, since the reserves of the internal energy of the system are not infinite. The thermal engine for energy production must perform a certain cycle, and therefore - every time to return to the initial state. The first law of thermodynamics says that the engine must receive energy from outside for work. That's why it's impossible to build a perpetual motion machine of the first kind.Perpetual motion machine of the second kind
The principle of the perpetual motion of the second kindconsisted in the following: to take away energy from the ocean, while lowering its temperature. This does not contradict the law of conservation of energy, but the construction of such an engine is also impossible. The whole point is that this contradicts the second law of thermodynamics. It is that energy from a colder body can not be transferred to a hotter one in the general case. The probability of such an event tends to zero, since it is irrational.
