Why is this not a perpetual motion machine?

[TheJCBand]

So a friend of mine posted this picture on my facebook wall. I assume there is some kind of inside joke involved that I'm not on the inside of. Anyways, I can't see any reason why this setup is impossible.

 

[Filip Larsen]

Even if the magnet were able to make a fluid flow through a pipe like that (which it is not) and that the wheel generator worked at a 100% efficiency the contraption would still consume more electrical energy than it can produce, so yes, it is not perpetual motion.

In fact, you can conclude that even without looking at the drawing or knowing any details on the machine, as all physical realizable motions that involve even the tiniest bit of friction or drag belong to the class of non-perpetual motion.

 

[Ranger Mike]

sure it will work..if the fluid is CRUDE OIL,,,plenty of it left in good old mother EARTH...

 

[russ_watters]

Why would the fluid fall back down if there is a magnet pulling it up?

 

[xxChrisxx]

Why would the fluid fall back down if there is a magnet pulling it up?

Also if it is powerful enough to pull it up, why would it only pull it up through the pipe in the first place.

 

[QuantumPion]

In order for that concept to work, you would need an electromagnet that could be switched on and off to raise the fluid and then let it fall down again. The power used by the electromagnet would be greater than that you make from the waterwheel.

 

[zielwolf]

Rust?

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

Something doesn't seem right about the idea that the fluid near the magnet falls, while the fluid up the pipe, which is further, rises.

The upstream and the downstream both seem to be equivalent. They both perceive the same gravity, but the (assumed) rising one is 1. further from the magnet, and 2. suffers friction from the pipe walls.

 

[MagnetDave]

General rule with any magnet-based perpetual motion machine: If the magnet is strong enough to pull something up, it won't let it fall. The magnetic force goes up as a function of distance much faster than gravity does.

 

[Lancelot59]

The most efficient machines that have been produced are transformers. They only top about 90%. You still have loss due to resistance in the wire.