Discuss Simple Hobbyist question in the Electrical Engineering Chat area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

Short answer is NO,

water (or any mass) at a height is a form of stored energy,
water flowing at speed over your wheel converts SOME of that energy into rotation of the shaft the wheel is on.
you could attach a pump to that shaft and use the rotation to drive it and therefore pump the water somewhere else.
at each of these steps, there is a loss, not all of the energy in the water is converted to torque and speed (power) same with the pump, not all of the power is converted to raise the water, some of it is lost in conversion
so the whole system would need additional energy inserted to make it work, so it can be done as a demonstration but would need a motor or similar to drive it.

p.s. if you do manage to build this magic contraption and it works then congratulations are in order. You will have created the worlds first perpetual motion machine, and you will suddenly become very popular in the scientific community.
 
Short answer is NO,

water (or any mass) at a height is a form of stored energy,
water flowing at speed over your wheel converts SOME of that energy into rotation of the shaft the wheel is on.
you could attach a pump to that shaft and use the rotation to drive it and therefore pump the water somewhere else.
at each of these steps, there is a loss, not all of the energy in the water is converted to torque and speed (power) same with the pump, not all of the power is converted to raise the water, some of it is lost in conversion
so the whole system would need additional energy inserted to make it work, so it can be done as a demonstration but would need a motor or similar to drive it.

p.s. if you do manage to build this magic contraption and it works then congratulations are in order. You will have created the worlds first perpetual motion machine, and you will suddenly become very popular in the scientific community.
Ty James. I'm sure I'm not the first ever to ask. I see vids on 95% efficiency on motors and whatnot and fusion reactors using ideas from the 50's, I'm sure I'm not the first to uneducatedly think of things of this ilk. Still wanna try. Ty again, if I come up with even dumber questions from your perspective I hope you can destroy my dreams of endless power generation in even fewer words than..NO. good times.

P.S. I do understand uneducatedly isn't a word. Ty
 
I never called you dumb,
you asked a question and I tried to give a simplified explanation of the physics involved.

the one statement you need to remember is

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be converted from one form to another.

every time you convert it through, you loose some as the conversion is not 100% efficient.
 
It's cool man, i sincerely appreciate it, if it's not too much bother I'll ask other stuff. I was just watching a vid on russian tanks and wondering why you couldn't put a tungsten needle behind a copper cone (like a panzerschrect, ww2)on a 50. Cal round for penetration into like an APC.
 
Sorry, probably seems silly. Too much imagination, not enough hard work of education. I'll leave you alone, thanks for your reply
 
"every time you convert it through, you loose some as the conversion is not 100% efficient."
More correctly, you don't lose it, (as you said, energy can be neither created nor destroyed) but some of the input will be converted to the desired output, the rest (the inefficiencies) will be converted into other forms, and ultimately into heat.
 
More correctly, you don't lose it, (as you said, energy can be neither created nor destroyed) but some of the input will be converted to the desired output, the rest (the inefficiencies) will be converted into other forms, and ultimately into heat.
A little pedantic, In most ways the energy converted into noise, vibration, heat etc. Is “lost” in that it has not been converted to the form you require but has escaped and been lost.

if I change £10 into £1 coins at the local shop.
shop keeper takes note and counts out 10 coins but one falls on the floor when I pocket them.
no money has been destroyed but 10% has been lost In conversion.
 

Reply to Simple Hobbyist question in the Electrical Engineering Chat area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock