- #1
striphe
- 125
- 1
Hypothesis
A contained body of gas that is within a field of gravity will have differing temperature in differing locations within the body. These differing temperatures can be utilised to by a heat engine, to convert heat energy into other forms.
Background
Heat can be described as the disordered vibrations and movements of molecules. Even though it is differentiated from the other forms of energy, it is essentially an unordered form of kinetic energy.
In a gaseous state, molecules are free to move with and against gravity. When they move with gravity they gain more velocity, increasing the contribution of energy that the particular molecule gives as heat energy in that particular location it enters. When they move against gravity they lose velocity, decreasing the contribution of energy that the particular molecule gives as heat energy in the particular location it enters.
This is apparent in everyday live when you consider that it is generally colder in a tall mountain than at sea level as the gas molecules lose heat energy as they move to higher altitudes.
The very important distinction must be made that moving an perfectly insulated contained body of gas to a higher altitude will not cool the gas, as the gas has not been transported to the location by its heat energy, but by mechanical energy applied to the container.
Thought Experiment 1
This hypothesis is best understood when depicted in a thought experiment.
Imagine a very tall structure ascends from a hot desert into the sky, to a point where it is so cold that a bottle of water would freeze at the top. This structure supports an elevator style mechanism that is of the highest efficiency, which lifts a device and drops a device that is exactly the same simultaneously. The result is that if one device is lifted to the top of the structure, the other rests at the bottom in the hot desert.
These devices are large bodies of water that are perfectly insulated, with the addition of reversible heat engine, that when activated will connect the insulated body of water and the outside world.
The device at the top of the structure is at the same temperature as its surroundings and the one at the bottom is at the same temperature as the hot desert. The elevator is activated and the devices swap position. As both bodies of water are insulated they are not the same temperature as their surroundings anymore. The heat engines are activated allowing the heat of the desert to enter the cold body of water and the heat of the other body of water to disperse into high altitude. During this process the heat engines extract the maximum amount of energy from the heat gradients until both bodies are at equilibrium with their surroundings. This process can then be re conducted.
Issue
I assume that the moving of the devices could approach almost 100% efficiency theoretically with the heat engines approaching Carnot efficiency. Based on this assumption, the energy extracted from the heat engines is greater than the loss caused by changing the positions of the sub-devices, this device could perpetuate.
Replacing the atmosphere with a long insulated container of gas. The device would not be able to perpetuate as it would absorb the heat energy from the system reducing it to a point where the device could no longer perpetuate. In this instance however, the system has reduced entropy.
Such an assumption would contradict the second law of thermodynamics.
A contained body of gas that is within a field of gravity will have differing temperature in differing locations within the body. These differing temperatures can be utilised to by a heat engine, to convert heat energy into other forms.
Background
Heat can be described as the disordered vibrations and movements of molecules. Even though it is differentiated from the other forms of energy, it is essentially an unordered form of kinetic energy.
In a gaseous state, molecules are free to move with and against gravity. When they move with gravity they gain more velocity, increasing the contribution of energy that the particular molecule gives as heat energy in that particular location it enters. When they move against gravity they lose velocity, decreasing the contribution of energy that the particular molecule gives as heat energy in the particular location it enters.
This is apparent in everyday live when you consider that it is generally colder in a tall mountain than at sea level as the gas molecules lose heat energy as they move to higher altitudes.
The very important distinction must be made that moving an perfectly insulated contained body of gas to a higher altitude will not cool the gas, as the gas has not been transported to the location by its heat energy, but by mechanical energy applied to the container.
Thought Experiment 1
This hypothesis is best understood when depicted in a thought experiment.
Imagine a very tall structure ascends from a hot desert into the sky, to a point where it is so cold that a bottle of water would freeze at the top. This structure supports an elevator style mechanism that is of the highest efficiency, which lifts a device and drops a device that is exactly the same simultaneously. The result is that if one device is lifted to the top of the structure, the other rests at the bottom in the hot desert.
These devices are large bodies of water that are perfectly insulated, with the addition of reversible heat engine, that when activated will connect the insulated body of water and the outside world.
The device at the top of the structure is at the same temperature as its surroundings and the one at the bottom is at the same temperature as the hot desert. The elevator is activated and the devices swap position. As both bodies of water are insulated they are not the same temperature as their surroundings anymore. The heat engines are activated allowing the heat of the desert to enter the cold body of water and the heat of the other body of water to disperse into high altitude. During this process the heat engines extract the maximum amount of energy from the heat gradients until both bodies are at equilibrium with their surroundings. This process can then be re conducted.
Issue
I assume that the moving of the devices could approach almost 100% efficiency theoretically with the heat engines approaching Carnot efficiency. Based on this assumption, the energy extracted from the heat engines is greater than the loss caused by changing the positions of the sub-devices, this device could perpetuate.
Replacing the atmosphere with a long insulated container of gas. The device would not be able to perpetuate as it would absorb the heat energy from the system reducing it to a point where the device could no longer perpetuate. In this instance however, the system has reduced entropy.
Such an assumption would contradict the second law of thermodynamics.