Power generatiion feasability question (with pic)

[Chaotic42]

Hey.

I was bored and was thinking about something. Could you use magnets to generate power? Here's my idea:

Have a very, very powerful magnet installed in a base. Around it is magnetic shielding. Above it is a door of magnetic shielding that slides back and forth, allowing the magnet to repel an identical magnet attached to a spinning arm. This arm would have 4 or 8, or however many magnets. Once the arm magnet is repelled, have the door close until the next magnet was in place.

Attach the whole system to a gear that would open and close the door, and have it attached to a turbine.

Pic

The black areas are magnetic shielding.

I'm sure this won't work, but why wouldn't it work?

 

[Muzzan]

Where will the power to (re)magnetize the magnet come from?

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Muzzan
Where will the power to (re)magnetize the magnet come from?

They would all be natural magnets, so their magnetism should last a while.

 

[Analog]

How do you 'start' it?

If you give it an initial kick, then it will work for a while, until friction and heat slow it down to a state of equilibrium.

 

[glaHHg]

You need some S's in that diagram. There are no magnetic monopoles.

 

[rudder]

You better be careful. My cousin posted information online about a perptual energy machine such as yours. Three days after it was online, he turned up missing. The only clue the police could find was a styrofoam cup from an Exxon station down the road.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: glaHHg
You need some S's in that diagram. There are no magnetic monopoles.

Right, the N would be open, the S part covered in magnetic shielding.

So how long would it run? It would be a neat project to build, it wouldn't cost much to make a small one.

 

[Analog]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: glaHHg
You need some S's in that diagram. There are no magnetic monopoles.

Right, the N would be open, the S part covered in magnetic shielding.

So how long would it run? It would be a neat project to build, it wouldn't cost much to make a small one.

how long? It will depend on how well it is balanced, the quality of the bearings in the part that turns, wind resistance, etc.

 

[sharkeeper]

Laws of Conservation preclude the development of perpetual kinetic apparatus in general...

Check out sofball magnetohydrodynamics in the environment of microgravity. So close to PM you can taste it! Unfortunately, you need to be in (at least) low earth orbit to play.

-DAK-

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam
Laws of Conservation preclude the development of perpetual kinetic apparatus in general...

Check out sofball magnetohydrodynamics in the environment of microgravity. So close to PM you can taste it! Unfortunately, you need to be in (at least) low earth orbit to play.

-DAK-

Heh, well, I'm not as ambitious as you guys think I am. I'm talking about generating enough power for a light bulb, or maybe a small radio, and then only for 10 minutes without being spun up by hand again.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam
Laws of Conservation preclude the development of perpetual kinetic apparatus in general...

Check out sofball magnetohydrodynamics in the environment of microgravity. So close to PM you can taste it! Unfortunately, you need to be in (at least) low earth orbit to play.

-DAK-

Heh, well, I'm not as ambitious as you guys think I am. I'm talking about generating enough power for a light bulb, or maybe a small radio, and then only for 10 minutes without being spun up by hand again.