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A sponge will draw a certain volume of water upwards. If a basin touching the sponge slightly below this line has a slight downward taper then water will drain from the sponge onto an elevated collection plate where the next sponge will draw a set volume of water upwards.
If a basin touching the
sponge slightly below this line has a slight downward taper then water will drain from the sponge onto an elevated collection plate where the next sponge will draw a set volume of water upwards.
If a basin touching the sponge slightly below this line has a slight downward taper then water will drain from the sponge onto an elevated collection plate where the next sponge will draw a set volume of water upwards...
Perpetual Motion Machine
Perpetual_20Motion_20Machine [bungston, Apr 13 2010]
[link]
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The mere placement of said basin is going to affect
the height of the 'line'. Namely, I think the new line
will be at or below the basin, making the pump
impossible. |
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Are you sure [daseva]? Capillary action should raise water high enough that, even without a tilt, horizontal wicks could draw water to the next sponge to be raised again. I think evaporation would be more of a problem but that could be used to aid the process. |
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the same force (i.e. surface tension) that pulls water
up the sponge or wick, will prevent liquid water from
escaping on the uphill side, unless it is by
evaporation |
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Oh dear oh dear oh dear, 2 fries. Perpetual motion, then?
[afine] put it exactly right. |
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In this house we obey the laws of physics! |
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there is a law of conservation of sponges though: the height that you suck the water up to is proportional to the force necessary to squeez the sponge and get the water out. |
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The capillarity perpetual motion machine is one of my all time favorites and one which I have spent some hours trying to bake. I found that water in a capillary tube behaves differently. |
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For example: a candy cane capillary tube can be used as a self starting siphon: hook the tube over the edge of a vessel of water and the water will rise up, turn the corner, go down and drip out provided the tube tip is below the level in the vessel. |
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But: if one has a large capillary tube with a water level near the top, it is not the same as a vessel: a very tiny candy cane capillary tube hooked into your big cap tube will self start and fill as above but it will not drip out. You cannot siphon out of the top of a cap tube. |
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An absorbent sponge might wet itself but no water will come out at a higher level, unless that level is itself some absorbent fabric with capillarity properties. |
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Yikes. I didn't realise I was trying to violate the laws of the universe or anything. |
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I thought that something touching the sponge, at a spot slightly lower than that sponge will draw water, would break surface tension and allow some to trickle to a raised collection pan in the same way that the walls of a canvas tent will keep out water until something touches the fabric. |
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I never thought of it as a perpetual motion machine, just a way to move miniscule amounts of water uphill. |
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Sorry guys, but you realise of course that I have to try this out now. Are salinity variations allowed? |
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I like it.... I'm going to try it. (goes out to buy a hundred sponges and a load of scaffolding). |
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//Are salinity variations allowed?// |
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This depends on local regulations. |
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Physics-wise, you can probably raise water if you use salinity
changes and/or evaporation and/or temperature gradients,
but one way or another you will have to put energy into the
system to lift water. |
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That's the spirit [xenzag]. I've got twenty bucks Canadian, (if you hurry, that's like twenty two fifty US right now ...if you really hurry), that says I can raise one ounce of water one foot using nothing but sponges, surface tension breaking wicking materials, and gravity faster'n'you. |
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It must be reproducable and salinity is up to your own discretion. No hyperbaric chambers or devices to change pressure like blowing air over the top of a straw will be allowed. |
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Anything yet? Are you flooded out? |
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<mutter grumble curse stomping frazzle> |
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It's not pm if it's partially solar powered eg. evaporation. |
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I tried to vote for this again... can I not have another vote please? |
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[rcarty] //solar powered eg. evaporatio// The problem with
that is don't get to keep any of the water you pump up to
the top: sequoias are only interested in the solutes
transported by the flowing water. |
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Suppose, though, you had a forest, in sunlight, transpiring
like crazy, and downwind from the canopy, a wind-collector,
shaded, hence at lower temperature, condensing some of
the moisture into a tank. No perpetual motion here: it's all
fusion-powered. |
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How about evaporation/condensation in a enclosed unit? |
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Solar rays cause water in sponge to evaporate, it is collected on sloped glass causing it to run away from the sponge so as not to precipitate back down, causing it to collect in a bsin to be absorbed by the next sponge. |
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// sequoias are only interested in the solutes transported by the flowing water.// sequoias have and external energy source. |
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[gnomethang] As I said: they're fusion-powered. |
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this idea didn't suck....enough |
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