Take a look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlx2PgESXhs
It shows a machine that a Norwegian artist built. It seemingly keeps going forever. They filmed it over 3 days and it kept going at the same time.
Can someone analyze the energy losses in this machine?
I'm seeing several losses at the moment:
- The ball is losing energy due to friction while going around the track.
- The pendulums are losing energy due to air friction.
What other sources of energy losses can you notice?
Best Answer
What a beautiful machine! It is obviously radiating away energy, because it is loud.
I actually have a similar machine at my house. It is also a high-Q mechanical resonator with a very narrow frequency acceptance; I have compared it to standard frequency references and I believe its stability is $\Delta f/f \approx 1\times 10^{-4}$. Here's a photo of it:
I've even opened up the door so that you can see there is nothing fishy, or hidden, or even complicated. You're welcome to come and film it for three days; just give me a call first so I can
wind it upclean the house.