What is free energy and why is it always spoken of with correspondence to perpetual motion

[Achilles]

I was watching a documentary on YouTube, well I have watched it ages ago but someone else posted about the Ferris wheel looking thing that supposedly produces "FREE ENERGY" on here and it popped up back in my mind. I am wondering what they mean by free energy as they talk about it when referring to perpetual motion as well. I know this is impossible according to current laws of physics. So what is free energy?

[StringJunky]

Energy that is extracted over and above what you put in; in a closed system. A bit like putting  something liquid into a container and then expecting to pour out more than you put in; that would be free liquid.

Edited August 20, 2018 by StringJunky

[Sensei]

Keyword to get undeserved attention for video (to earn money on advertisements).

Similar keywords are "flat Earth", "hollow Earth", "anti-vaccine".. etc. etc. the all stupidest ideas just to get attention..

 

[zapatos]

Energy that does not have a cost.

You can roll a ball down an incline and use its motion to generate electricity. The cost of that energy is the work it takes to put the ball on top of the incline so that it can roll down again. If you could find a way to move the ball back to the top of the incline for less cost than the energy you generate by rolling it down the incline, you would have free energy.

The Ferris wheel looking thing you saw is a device someone claims will do just that. They are wrong.

As the Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us, "Even at Best You Can't Break Even".

[DrP]

The Gibbs equation sprang to mind when reading the thread title, but I don't think this is what the OP was hoping for.

 

[Sensei]

15 hours ago, zapatos said:

Energy that does not have a cost.

Buy solar panels once and use them to the rest of life to produce the all energy that you need..

I used to have 353 kWh per month usage, couple years ago, when I had my own server, but after ISP changed (my ISP was sold to other company), they changed everything, and there was no way to have static public IP address which rendered server service useless (cost of previously free of charge static public IP was double Internet cable costs). After getting watt meter, and measuring the all devices in the apartment, and shutting them overnight, or using them more wisely, now it dropped to 154 kWh per month (44% of old one usage).

When I had 353 kWh I calculated there is needed 18 m^2 of solar panels on the roof to handle all my needs. 18 m^2 / (1600 mm x 800 mm ) = 14 solar panels (each costed at that time equivalent of $250) = $3.5k investment (now they're for $160 each).

So, in my new electric energy usage I could have the all needs fulfilled by just 6-7 solar panels * $160 = $1120 investment..

 

Edited August 21, 2018 by Sensei

[swansont]

!

Moderator Note

Let's stick to the topic of the OP, please.