• GiveOver@feddit.uk
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    5 days ago

    It’s sometimes called an overbalanced wheel, an early perpetual motion device. The idea is that there’s more weights on the right side than the left side, so the wheel will turn clockwise. The weights are on rods that fall to the right as the wheel turns, so there’s always going to be more weights on the right. So the wheel turns forever. Free power woohoo!

    The reality is that the balls on the left are further away from the axle. Futher from the axle = greater torque. Surprise surprise it all cancels out and the wheel eventually comes to rest.