Buoyancy for a greater than 100% power return machine

[initiate]

This is just a silly idea of mine, so dont get ahead of yourself.

 

Lets say we have a pipe that's 1 km tall and its filled with distilled water, its standing up and it is made of a material that has the required compressive, tensile and shearing strengths for it not to collapse or break apart, also its in perfect equilibrum.

 

Next, through a double door mechanism, we introduce an object that has lower density than distilled water so it floats, eventually getting up to the tip of the pipe. Then we let it fall through another 1 km pipe that has a dynamo every 5m, slowing down the object and transforming its kinetic energy into electricity until it hits the ground, then just rinse and repeat.

 

Where did i go wrong to assume this thing can break the laws of thermodynamics? And wether or not its a machine that creates energy, is this, in purely a theoretical context, possible?

[Robittybob1]

This is just a silly idea of mine, so dont get ahead of yourself.

 

Lets say we have a pipe that's 1 km tall and its filled with distilled water, its standing up and it is made of a material that has the required compressive, tensile and shearing strengths for it not to collapse or break apart, also its in perfect equilibrum.

 

Next, through a double door mechanism, we introduce an object that has lower density than distilled water so it floats, eventually getting up to the tip of the pipe. Then we let it fall through another 1 km pipe that has a dynamo every 5m, slowing down the object and transforming its kinetic energy into electricity until it hits the ground, then just rinse and repeat.

 

Where did i go wrong to assume this thing can break the laws of thermodynamics? And wether or not its a machine that creates energy, is this, in purely a theoretical context, possible?

The pressure and energy needed to push that object into the water tower will be greater that what you get from the falling side.

[md65536]

The pressure and energy needed to push that object into the water tower will be greater that what you get from the falling side.

In other words, you will effectively have to lift an entire column of water to make room for the object at the bottom. The water then falls bit by bit as the object rises.

[swansont]

is this, in purely a theoretical context, possible?

 

No. No over-unity machine is possible, even in a theoretical context.

[John Cuthber]

There are two ways to look at it. In order to put the float in at the bottom of the water you need to make room for it.

You can do that by lifting the water up or by removing some.

Lifting it will take energy and you can't hope to recover all the energy needed Removing the water would work- until the water ran out.

So you have either a very tall piece of art or a very ineffective hydro- power station.

[Greg H.]

Here's a hint.

 

If your idea to produce energy includes the phrase "over 100% return" then it violates the laws of physics and you can assume it will not work.

 

Leo more or less sums it up:

 

 

Oh ye seekers after perpetual motion, how many vain chimeras have you pursued? Go and take your place with the alchemists.— Leonardo da Vinci

Edited April 9, 2015 by Greg H.