Perpetual motion machine? No! the 'Rolling Ball Clock '

Found this very interesting clock in a section of the British Museum - London.

To all the people are writing it's not a perpetual motion machine, I KNOW, IT'S NOT. 'Rolling Ball Clock' only wouldn't have attracted over 2800 to watch the video!
The video has been done simply because THIS CLOCK IS COOL.




From the tag in front of this masterpiece:
"Rolling Ball Clock - Santiago James Moore French.
Royal Exchange, London about 1820

Santiago James Moore French was one of several clockmakers to follow an original design by Sir William Congreve. The steel ball takes 30 seconds to roll from one end of the table to the other. At each end a catch is released, enabling the spring driven movement to tip the table the other way and start the ball rolling back. The ball travels about 4000 Km a year."

Updated on 10th April 2008:

Got this email from Mr Oliver at the British Museum:

Unfortunately this clock cannot be called a perpetual motion machine. It has a source of energy, a coiled steel spring. The spring is encased in a brass barrel and is part of the movement of the clock, which is located above the rolling ball. Every time the ball hits the lever at the end of the track, the spring powers the movement to raise that end of the platter, thus lifting the ball and causing it to roll back again. I wind the clock every week (which means I put my energy from my breakfast into the spring!), so you can see that this is not perpetual motion. You are correct about friction - if there was no friction the clock then it would not need extra energy and so would not need a spring!

If you do find a perpetual motion machine then please let us know!




Thank you for your enquiry"

What a pity...


Ho trovato questo interessantissimo orologio in una sezione del British Museum a Londra.

Dalla descrizione che era di fronte all'orologio:

"Orologio a biglia - Santiago James Moore French.

Royal Exchange, Londra circa 1820
Santiago James Moore French era uno dei molteplici orologiai ce seguivano il disegno di Sir William Congreve. La biglia d'acciaio impiega 30 secondi per rotolare da un lato all'altro del tavolo. Ad ogni estremita` della pista c'e` un rilascio a molla, che fa scattare il movimento per ribaltare la tavoletta nella direzione opposta e far rotolare indietro la biglia. Queta pallina rotola per circa 4000 Km all'anno.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• perpetual
• motion
• machine
• Rolling
• Ball
• Clock
• Santiago
• James
• Moore
• French
• macchina
• del
• moto
• perpetuo
• William
• Congr

[CriticCafeteria]

so you decided to lie to people to gain the interest of the science community. You sir are nothing more than a liar and a theif, you've lied to get veiws and you've stolen my time. your pretty pathetic you know that?

[lookaaaa]

@CriticCafeteria .... your comment is pathetic, as much as those 'fake' comments you find everywhere in youtube. Whatever, get a life.

[CriticCafeteria]

@lookaaaa

my god...you used what i said and said it right back to me! goodness how ever shall i recover from such a blow to my mental psyche. you lied to get people to see your video, your just a lying piece of trash.

[lookaaaa]

@CriticCafeteria as already said, whatever.

[pinkistoughjj]

So why isn't this perpetual motion? Just wondering.

[lookaaaa]

@pinkistoughjj Hahahah, d'you know that you are gonna get absolutely LOADS of very angry replies? Thumb up for you :)

[fronkenpoop]

That's quite an amazing machine which looks beautifully crafted - thanks for the video. Although, I cant see how it could be particularly accurate if the mechanism was exposed to dust and contaminants etc.

[barutjeh]

@pinkistoughjj GRRR *foams in the mouth*

No, but seriously, it's not perpetual motion because, as explained in the comments, the energy it takes to tilt the plate once the ball reaches the end comes from a coiled spring, which is wound up by a person, who in that way provides the energy to run the clock. Since it also says he only needs to wind it up once a week, it does seem pretty efficient though.

[JohnSmith18989]

This device really looks great.....

If you are looking for more about the Perpetual motion Magnetic Generator..

Go to Google and search for "Top Magnetic Generator" ...

Select the First Result (Skip the Advertisements)

[JRBeaman]

@FatPappyChaw The true scientific community would understand and still applaud at such a novel setup.

[JRBeaman]

Very nice machine.

Thanks for sharing.

[HappyJackProduction1]

That pretty cool

[Superman83271]

Is it perpetual or isn't it? It's so hard to tell. It can't be. But that ball, how it rolls like that. It seems kind of perpetual doesn't it? Shoot, man it can't be though. Except what about how the plate just lifts itself up at the end? And then the ball rolls back. Wow it must be perpetual. It has to be because when the ball gets to the end the plate tilts again, and the ball rolls back. Why would it ever stop? GENIUS GENIUS it's perpetual. Except what about the spring? Brother, never mind.

[TriFortitude123]

When I went to the British museum and saw it! I spent a lot of the day in that one spot! Thanks for making this video!

[FatPappyChaw]

Well all I have to say is cool clock...and fuck the scientific community

[offthericta]

@pinkistoughjj It's consuming more power than it puts out. It is a clock that winds up and the spring is supplying the power. When the spring unwinds, the 'perpetual' stops.

[SpiritsoftheWolf]

a cat sees that, it plays with it XD