Website Detail Page

written by Donald Simanek
This delightful and educational site offers quite a variety of proposals for perpetual motion, running the gamut from unbalanced wheels to accelerated charges to magnetic and gravitational shields to capillary action. Most are debunked (some are left to the reader to figure out). Text is provided in both Portuguese and English.
Subjects Levels Resource Types
General Physics
- History
- High School
- Informal Education
- Collection
- Audio/Visual
= Image/Image Set
Intended Users Formats Ratings
- Learners
- image/gif
- text/html
  • Currently 0.0/5

Want to rate this material?
Login here!


Access Rights: Free access
Restriction: © 2002 Donald Simanek
Has a copyright or other licensing restriction.
Keyword: perpetual motion
Record Creator: Metadata instance created July 17, 2004 by Melanie Carter
Record Updated: Aug 10, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Other Collections:
The Museum of Unworkable Devices (Editor: Donald Simanek)
Date: 04/19/2005
Date Description: xxx

This delightful and educational site offers quite a variety of proposals for perpetual motion, many of them patented, running the gamut from unbalanced wheels to accelerated charges to magnetic and gravitational shields to capillary action. Nearly all are debunked (only a few are left to the reader to understand), and the explanations all use introductory physics so they are widely accessible. Although these designs rely on tricks like frictionless seals and bearings and viscosity-free liquids, their flaws are invariably fundamental.

The site also presents a few historical figures in the search for perpetual motion, as well as a late nineteenth-century charlatan who persuaded US venture capitalists of the time to invest a million dollars in his device, which he demonstrated. In addition, the site presents a nice variety of optical illusions, most showing impossible structures. Text is provided in Portuguese as well as English.

ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
AIP Format
D. Simanek, (2002), WWW Document, (https://lockhaven.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm).
AJP/PRST-PER
D. Simanek, The Museum of Unworkable Devices (2002), <https://lockhaven.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm>.
APA Format
Simanek, D. (2002). The Museum of Unworkable Devices. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://lockhaven.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm
Chicago Format
Simanek, Donald. The Museum of Unworkable Devices. 2002. https://lockhaven.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm (accessed 3 December 2024).
MLA Format
Simanek, Donald. The Museum of Unworkable Devices. 2002. 3 Dec. 2024 <https://lockhaven.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{ Author = "Donald Simanek", Title = {The Museum of Unworkable Devices}, Volume = {2024}, Number = {3 December 2024}, Year = {2002} }
Refer Export Format

%A Donald Simanek %T The Museum of Unworkable Devices %D 2002 %U https://lockhaven.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm %O image/gif

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Simanek, Donald %D 2002 %T The Museum of Unworkable Devices %V 2024 %N 3 December 2024 %9 image/gif %U https://lockhaven.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm


Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.

Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.

Have experience with this material? Login to leave a comment sharing your experience.

Know of a related resource? Login to relate this resource to other material across the web.

Know of a better resource? Suggest it!

See a problem with this material's physics or description? Contact us!