The Hendershot Generator scam

[Dsonsion]

If somebody questions the law of conservation, they have no hope. It's as simple as that.

Well, as a physics student, I can't just handwave it like that. I mean, yes, I could, but I should ascertain which principles are alleged to be behind this, and in case IT WORKED, how would it. You know, by reductio ad absurdum.

[Deleted]

The only thing perpetual is my hate for Fuckster Hendershot and this guy's voice

[Daerio]

Don't get me wrong. I didn't fall for it. I just want to completely understand why this is supposed to work, so I can debunk it like a slap on my wooist friend's face. I know for sure it's all bullshit, but I must dig deeper into it, for the greater good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_motion

A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work indefinitely without an energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, as it would violate the first or second law of thermodynamics.

I've seen all kinds of attempted trickery, cleverly concealed magnets and whatnot to trick the viewer into believing it's a self-sustaining 'reaction' - but it always involves an outside energy source they're trying to hide. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transferred and changed. These scams declare their invention creates energy from nothing, which is impossible at this point.

This is basically what they're advertising:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTtq3ALAtDE

And the trick is the middle part is powered by a motor. So you're just watching a normal motor spin around in a circle. Free energy?

Perpetual motion is impossible. The main reason for this is friction. If you can somehow overcome this obstacle, the device will only keep enough energy to keep itself running, and no more. Any attempt to harness this energy will, depending on the method, eventually stop the machine or fail to produce any usable voltage due to resistance in the wires.

Gude. For me this is a hobby and a reverse-engineering challenge. To my knowledge, no one has yet explained or figured out how Hendershot's device worked, yet he had several witnesses who testified that he had a real-working thing. So the challenge here is to understand the functioning of each component and to "speculate" what the circuit might be. This invention was LOST, and some hobbiest like me will tinker with this stuff and see if we can contribute to the solution. I will probably take many folks working on this seriously before we start to get some place. We need physicists, electronic engineerings, etc. and people willing to think outside the box a bit. Further, if Hendershot did create a hoax, which I doubt very much, he had some balls to show it to so many dignitaries and military, etc.

"Nobody knows how it works, or even if it works."

The IDEA is that it's drawing power from Earth's magnetic field (or the small magnets) - but it's all just bullshit.

[ringpriest]

From the Rational Wiki, How to spot a perpetual motion fraud:

In short, the way to spot if a perpetual motion machine is fake and won't live up to its claim is simple: it's labeled as a perpetual motion machine. Any claim of perpetual motion is fraudulent on its face due to basic physics. At best, it's someone seeing only an illusion because they haven't tested it properly, or at worst they're engaging in active deceit and tricking people into believing the machine somehow works, sometimes in order to sell it.

Despite this, many inventors attempt to rationalize their perpetual motion invention with ad hoc explanations. For example, Joe Newman claims that his energy machine actually consumes the components of its motors by direct matter-to-energy conversion. A popular option for the extremely common magnet powered motors found on PESWiki is that they somehow take their energy by depolarising the magnet. Of course, such energy sources are not perpetual, and there is also the question of whether they can do a worthwhile amount of work. It is therefore necessary to insist on seeing the actual specifications and design of the device in question. Chances are, if the inventor won't share, the idea is wrong and may be a complete put-on.

Keep in mind that with a properly balanced device, it's possible to simulate perpetual motion for as long as you need to keep the audience focused. Of course, such devices are always con jobs, since they obviously are not perpetual devices internally, just very, very fuel efficient, and probably not capable of all that much real work.

[Lenonis]

I don't hate myself enough to watch any more of this video than I already did.

What I will say is this -- much like a cure for cancer, proof of intelligent alien life, and the like -- if an endless energy machine actually did exist, it would be known about by everyone. Which of course assumes it can exist, which given the laws of physics at we understand it, it cannot.

[Calfredd]

I don't hate myself enough to watch any more of this video than I already did.

What I will say is this -- much like a cure for cancer, proof of intelligent alien life, and the like -- if an endless energy machine actually did exist, it would be known about by everyone. Which of course assumes it can exist, which given the laws of physics at we understand it, it cannot.

Can you imagine all the hush-hush people and companies would have to go through to keep a cure for cancer a secret?

[Dsonsion]

I don't hate myself enough to watch any more of this video than I already did.

I watched the whole thing... I'll never do such a thing again. I was foolish enough to think there'd be some explanation to why it'd allegedly work, other than some words about earth's magnetic field.

[Deleted]

Fuck you guys: I bought 2.

All power to me!

[Yunru]

I watched the whole thing... I'll never do such a thing again. I was foolish enough to think there'd be some explanation to why it'd allegedly work, other than some words about earth's magnetic field.

Wasnt that from Tesla conspiracy theory?
I didnt watch the video, becase it laged when loading.

[Annoying]

As far as I can tell, magnet-based "generators" like these are actually depleting the magnetic field of the magnets that they use. They convert the field energy into motion, and will eventually stop working when the field energy is depleted beyond a certain point.

[MerinPally]

Can you imagine all the hush-hush people and companies would have to go through to keep a cure for cancer a secret?

Imagine how impossible that'd be and risky. You'd have to not patent it, meaning the entire team you had working on it you just had to pray that noone leaked it. And even if they did trust them, the sheer quantity of money and opportunities another drug company would offer you for information, and you'd sure as hell take it because you're not gona get a big cut of the fantabulous profits.

[Annoying]

Imagine how impossible that'd be and risky. You'd have to not patent it, meaning the entire team you had working on it you just had to pray that noone leaked it. And even if they did trust them, the sheer quantity of money and opportunities another drug company would offer you for information, and you'd sure as hell take it because you're not gona get a big cut of the fantabulous profits.

Well you could claim it was a trade secret, which doesn't have to be patented, and is completely enforceable in court. The real worry would be about another *nation* that doesn't care about a lot of patent laws (say, China...) stealing it and selling it for money.

[Poopymonster]

There is no 5th dimension. Hyperdimensionality exists only as a component of string theory, which isn't testable (and thus just another flying spaghetti monster that the world doesn't need).

EDIT: P.S. I'm still listening to this video. Ramble ramble ramble.

Buckaroo Banzai proved there was an 8th Dimension

[satimy]

You can't generate energy from nothing. You cannot create it. You can only get energy from something that has energy; eg, you can only transfer it.

This is utter bubkis.

If the big bang happened, wouldn't that disprove that?

[Kujako]

If the big bang happened, wouldn't that disprove that?

No. All time and space compressed into a finite point containing all potential energy in the universe expanded rapidly. No energy was created, it was already there. That's why it went "bang".

[satimy]

No. All time and space compressed into a finite point containing all potential energy in the universe expanded rapidly. No energy was created, it was already there. That's why it went "bang".

but didn't that compressed energy have to be made from something?

[Zethras]

but didn't that compressed energy have to be made from something?

There's a law of quantum physics (I forget specifically which one, so don't shoot me if I get it wrong) that says something to the effect that certain subatomic particles are theorized to be able to exist in two places simultaneously for an infinitely minuscule amount of time. Which suggests that they appear and disappear, which then suggests that the infant universe could have just *snaps fingers* came into existence, from nothing, for no reason.

[Daerio]

but didn't that compressed energy have to be made from something?

Conservation of energy really has nothing to do with creation theory.

But addressing your question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EilZ4VY5Vs

[satimy]

Conservation of energy really has nothing to do with creation theory.

But addressing your question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EilZ4VY5Vs

Thanks watching it now

[Polybius]

Not to mention if such a violation of conservation could exist then the universe would be flooded with waste energy, jacking up the entropy to critical mass and turning the universe into a hot, motionless soup of meaninglessness.

So if this does exist, we're already dead.

The generator sounds like an SCP.