Perpetual motion/Free energy

Want to just shoot the breeze? Forum 42 is the place!

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usbcd36
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Post by usbcd36 » Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:01 pm

I read about something in MAKE once that interested me. By taping some neodymium magnets onto a ruler and putting some small (~1 cm in diameter) metal balls in strategic places, you fire the last one about two feet. Simply, the first ball is attracted to the first magnet, so it rolls towards it. That magnet transmits the force to the ball sitting next to it, so it rolls away and towards the second magnet. The process repeats about three times and the final ball is launched. I know there is no such thing as free energy, but by their description, it seems almost like it. I haven't built one though (neodymium magnets are expensive) so don't trust me on anything here.

Also, I know perpetual motion is probably impossible, but an adaptation of this might run for a few hundred years.

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Post by Triton » Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:39 pm

some of you guys are basically explaining the properties of a railgun (lorenz force) gauss guns and the maglev!

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Post by ransoman » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:16 pm

if You are wanting a cheap source of some SERIOUSLY powerfull neodymium magnets just get some old, dead, Hard drives. The magnets that drive the arm are amazingly strong and you get some bearings too.

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Post by Super Cameraman » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:58 pm

Hmmm... I have an old VERY dead harddrive! We threw the whole computer out the window! How do I open the harddrive? I thought the screws were different.

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Post by totokan » Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:10 pm

They are mostly small hex bits, right? You could just drill through 'em (the screw's head) if it's useless anyways.
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Post by Sparkfist » Sat Sep 02, 2006 6:37 am

Actually a hard drive (or at least the two I took apart) used size 8 and 6 torq bits. Really you'll need to buy a security bit set to do it.

If you want to try something fun check this out, it could be a lot of fun.
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Post by Sparkfist » Sat Sep 02, 2006 6:48 am

Yeah you could do that, but most jeweler's screw drivers are not tempered and so if you used them on an application like this you'd likely ruin it. Guess you lucked out.
vskid wrote:Nerd = likes school, does all their homework, dies if they don't get 100% on every assignment
Geek = likes technology, dies if the power goes out and his UPS dies too

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Post by teraflop122 » Sat Sep 02, 2006 8:38 am

I've opened hard drives through brute force alone. You just get a good, strong flathead, jam it through the rubberized seal along the outer edge of the drive, and start prying.

Yeah, I know, Crazy is me. But it worked ~_~

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Post by Sparkfist » Sat Sep 02, 2006 2:01 pm

anotherperson wrote:Maybe it was luck, but the fact that I just got apart an iPod Mini hard drive with that technique tells me otherwise! I was going to turn it into one of those speakers but it's too small for me to go poking around working out which are the coil wires, plus the magnet is on the side of the hard drive that is removed to reveal the internals :( I took off the magnet and it's impressively strong! I think I'll magnetise some screwdrivers now.
I hope that hard drive was completely ruined, otherwise.... Well I didn't know you were talking about something like a 1.8" hard drive. 3.5" hard drives are beasts to take apart, they're built like a tank so you have to use tough screw drivers to open the thing.
vskid wrote:Nerd = likes school, does all their homework, dies if they don't get 100% on every assignment
Geek = likes technology, dies if the power goes out and his UPS dies too

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Post by vskid » Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:00 pm

Sparkfist wrote:3.5" hard drives are beasts to take apart, they're built like a tank so you have to use tough screw drivers to open the thing.
I wouldn't be suprised if one of those could stop a bullet. I bet you could put those on the outside of your car to armor it.
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Post by totokan » Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:02 pm

yeah, in theory but to protect the whole frame, you would make your car about %150 it's original weight.
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Post by bicostp » Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:10 pm

Sparkfist wrote:3.5" hard drives are beasts to take apart, they're built like a tank so you have to use tough screw drivers to open the thing.
They're really easy with the proper screwdriver. (I think it's a star bit or something.) Generally, you just have to unscrew the screws and the cover comes off. None of the drives I've taken apart even have threadlock on the screws! :lol:
Last edited by bicostp on Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by vskid » Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:10 pm

totokan wrote:yeah, in theory but to protect the whole frame, you would make your car about %150 it's original weight.
You could take out the seats, and the windows would come out and have slits instead. It would only be worth it if you needed a bulletproof car fast and for cheap.
Its pretty funny how they have way thick cases but can die from a single drop.
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Post by totokan » Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:13 pm

bicostp wrote:
Sparkfist wrote:3.5" hard drives are beasts to take apart, they're built like a tank so you have to use tough screw drivers to open the thing.
They're really easy with the proper screwdriver. (I think it's a star bit or something.) Generally, you just have to unscrew the screws and the cover comes off. None of the drives I've taken apart even have threadlock on the screws! :lol:
Well my multi-screwdriver doesn't have that size one, it has the next size up one.
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Post by ransoman » Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:36 pm

I have the correct sized torx bit, the screws themselves are not particularly tight so it does come apart quite easily.

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