05/09/2024
The infinite power of an idea is greater than infinite power.
I don’t usually get the opportunity to walk the floor at trade shows. Therefore, I’ll go in early, get setup and wander around. Most booths don’t have anyone there but occasionally someone is there and you can chat.
At the Automate show I had a new experience. I was walking past a booth where a couple guys were having a bit of a lively discussion. One worked at the booth and the other worked for a vendor for the show.
As I was walking by, the guy at the booth hollered at me and asked if I was an electrical engineer. I said no but sometimes play one on TV, why? He wanted me to hear the other guys idea and explain why it wouldn’t work.
This guy explains he has developed an infinite power system. He has two batteries, with two ‘smart’ chargers and an inverter that power a TV.
Every 12 hours the system switches to the other battery and the corresponding battery charges the other battery from the other one. He was convinced that it would run forever.
The guy at the booth had already gone through Ohm’s law and some other calculations to no avail which is where he roped me in.
I decided to try a different approach after hearing his theory. I presented the idea that he has a shot glass and two five gallon buckets full of alcohol. The buckets represent his two batteries fully charged and the shot glass represents the energy used by the TV every 12 hrs.
On day one, you take a shot from bucket one. That night, bucket two “charges” or refills bucket one by supplying a shot to bucket one but also the TV takes another shot from bucket two so it is now 2 shots low. The next day, bucket one has to recharge bucket two by now providing 2 shots and the TV takes its shot, so bucket one is now three shots low.
You see where this is going. And this is assuming zero energy (alcohol) loss in the charging process. At each iteration, you loose a shot of alcohol so eventually your buckets are empty.
At each iteration, this guy agreed with the status of the volume and reduction of volume in the buckets. I talked this through enough iterations to where we had lost about 7 shots. I thought this was enough to illustrate the gradual loss of energy in the system, especially since he agreed and seemed to understand each iteration and the lack of any external input of energy.
Unfortunately, he said, yea but the batteries I’m using have a ton of kilowatts relative to the what the TV was using.
Not wanting to be the one to crush his dreams and also not having the time to invest further in the discussion, I wished him the best of luck on his endeavor and promised to take a never-ending shot of a tasty beverage in his honor!
