Occasionally someone claims to have built a machine that can run forever, producing as much energy as it consumes. This has always been disproved because it violates
A) the first law of thermodynamics.
B) the second law of thermodynamics.
C) entropy.
D) laws preventing any conversion between types of energy.
E) coupled reaction equations.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The claim of a perpetual motion machine violates the second law of thermodynamics, which states that in a closed system, the amount of usable energy decreases over time, and eventually all energy becomes unusable due to entropy. This means that a machine cannot create more energy than it consumes, as some energy will always be lost as heat or other forms of unusable energy.

Occasionally Someone Claims to Have Built a Machine That Can