• Question: could you use magnetism to create perpetual motion?

    Asked by to Edward, Ian, Mathew, Naomi, sakshisharda on 16 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Ian Stephenson

      Ian Stephenson answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      No.

      The problem with perpetual motion is you start with a certain amount of energy. Over time, no matter how good your machine, you end up loosing a bit – maybe it squeaks, or gets warm, or moves the air around it. Unless you’ve got something to put energy into the machine eventually you run out of energy and your machine stops.

    • Photo: Naomi Osborne

      Naomi Osborne answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      perpetual motion is a theoretical concept that could never be achieved in reality – there will always be some sort of frictional loss of energy

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