Neither the inventor's name nor his nativity can we give. An account of
the invention was furnished by a correspondent to Mechanics' Magazine
in 1829. The account is as follows:
To the curious who delight in mechanical intricacies, to whom
ingenuity of contrivance is the goal for which they run, nothing
seems to afford and require such endless resources as that
most puzzling thing--perpetual motion. The unfortunate name
"perpetual motion," if changed for "mechanical experiment," would
eventually, perhaps, remove the real cause of censuring it, by
the different idea of the object aimed at.
I now beg leave to offer some account of a combination of
movements, which, from its originality, and seeming to possess
every requisite for retaining it in action, may possibly be
acceptable.
[Illustration]
This diagram shows a side view. On the stand A are raised two
supports B, each having a center hole at _a_, to receive the
axle of the balanced apparatus, consisting of C, a glass tube
containing a portion of mercury G; and D, a grooved scaleboard,
in which a ball, E, can roll backwards and forwards. F F are two
jointed levers, which are to serve, when struck by the ball, to
reverse the position of the compound balance: the whole centred
at _a_, the tube at _b_, and the grooved board at _c_. In its
present position, the mercury (it is supposed), having flowed to
the end C, will depress D, and cause the ball E to roll to D, and
depress the end G F D; and so on continually.
Series of Inclined Planes
This scheme is of English origin, and was promulgated in 1864. The
name of the inventor is unknown, but he described his invention in a
communication to a scientific publication in the following language:
The accompanying diagram represents a series of inclined
semi-tubes connected together in the form of a rectangle.
[Illustration]
The ball A, is placed at the top of an incline in such a
position that it shall descend to B, at which point it will have
sufficient velocity or gravity to carry it up the ascent to C;
and so supposing the inclines and ascents to be endless, the
repetition of the movement must be also endless. I think it is
not unreasonable to suppose that a perpetual movement of the
ball will take place, from the fact that the velocity imparted
to it by its _first_ descent is sufficient to carry it from A to
C, _those two points being at the same level_. I think the only
thing to guard against is the ball rushing over the point C,
and thus accelerating the velocity at each descent. The incline
on road upon which the ball runs can be made either circular,
square, octagonal, or, in fact, almost of any form.
Device by Oscillating Trough and Cannon Balls
(Name of inventor unknown)
An adaptation from a "Perpetual Pump" substituting cannon-balls for
water.
An account of this invention was published in London in 1825, in the
language of the inventor, who says:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account