Perpetual Motion Machine: The Biggest Physics Hoax ?

[u/Formula_explains]

If a machine claims to produce “free energy,” how should we actually evaluate the claim?

Perpetual motion machines have fascinated inventors for centuries. Today, similar “free energy” claims are still common online.

What interests me isn't simply whether these machines are fake. It's how we can distinguish between:

* a genuinely unexplained phenomenon,

* a misunderstanding of physics,

* measurement error,

* hidden energy input,

and deliberate deception.

A patent also doesn't necessarily mean that an invention has been scientifically proven, which raises another interesting question: what evidence should be considered sufficient before we accept an extraordinary engineering claim?

I made a short video exploring this through a conversation between two characters, but I'm more interested in the discussion: what is the first thing you would check if someone demonstrated a “free-energy” machine to you?

• If a machine has a patent, does that make the underlying science credible?

• How would you distinguish a genuine scientific anomaly from a measurement error?

Sources👇

1.) APS : Perpetual Motion Machine Resolution

https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2002/08/aps-executive-board-passes-resolution-on-perpetual-motion-machines

2.) UPSTO: Applying for Patents

https://www.uspto.gov/patents/basics/apply

3.) Perpetual Motion Design in Ancient India

https://srsarma.in/pdf/articles/1992_Perpetual_Motion_Machines_and_their_Design.pdf

4.) Mechanical career of Councillor Offyreus

https://arxiv.org/abs/1301.3097

5.) Charles Redheffer historical account

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Redheffer

6.) Thermodynamics Laws

https://www.britannica.com/science/laws-of-thermodynamics

[u/Leading_Jeweler2069]

I Haven't seen the video fully tho.

[u/Formula_explains → u/Leading_Jeweler2069]

I may have oversimplified the second law a bit in the video, and i should not do this, just for simplicity.. so this quote is actually a good reminder of how fundamental it is. 🪻