What is "perpetual motion"

Perpetual \Per*pet"u*al\, a. [OE. perpetuel, F. perp['e]tuel, fr. L. perpetualis, fr. perpetuus continuing throughout, continuous, fr. perpes, -etis, lasting throughout.] Neverceasing; continuing forever or for an unlimited time; unfailing; everlasting; continuous.

Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.
--Shak.

Perpetual feast of nectared sweets.
--Milton.

Circle of perpetual apparition, or Circle of perpetual occultation. See under Circle.

Perpetual calendar, a calendar so devised that it may be adjusted for any month or year.

Perpetual curacy (Ch. of Eng.), a curacy in which all the tithes are appropriated, and no vicarage is endowed.
--Blackstone.

Perpetual motion. See under Motion.

Perpetual screw. See Endless screw, under Screw.

Syn: Continual; unceasing; endless; everlasting; incessant; constant; eternal. See Constant.

Motion \Mo"tion\, n. [F., fr. L. motio, fr. movere, motum, to move. See Move.]

1. The act, process, or state of changing place or position; movement; the passing of a body from one place or position to another, whether voluntary or involuntary; -- opposed to rest.

   Speaking or mute, all comeliness and grace attends thee, and each word, each motion, forms.
   --Milton.

2. Power of, or capacity for, motion.

   Devoid of sense and motion.
   --Milton.

3. Direction of movement; course; tendency; as, the motion of the planets is from west to east.

   In our proper motion we ascend.
   --Milton.

4. Change in the relative position of the parts of anything; action of a machine with respect to the relative movement of its parts.

   This is the great wheel to which the clock owes its motion.
   --Dr. H. More.

5. Movement of the mind, desires, or passions; mental act, or impulse to any action; internal activity.

   Let a good man obey every good motion rising in his heart, knowing that every such motion proceeds from God.
   --South.

6. A proposal or suggestion looking to action or progress; esp., a formal proposal made in a deliberative assembly; as, a motion to adjourn.

   Yes, I agree, and thank you for your motion.
   --Shak.

7. (Law) An application made to a court or judge orally in open court. Its object is to obtain an order or rule directing some act to be done in favor of the applicant.
   --Mozley & W.

8. (Mus.) Change of pitch in successive sounds, whether in the same part or in groups of parts.

   The independent motions of different parts sounding together constitute counterpoint.
   --Grove.

   Note: Conjunct motion is that by single degrees of the scale. Contrary motion is that when parts move in opposite directions. Disjunct motion is motion by skips. Oblique motion is that when one part is stationary while another moves. Similar or direct motion is that when parts move in the same direction.

9. A puppet show or puppet. [Obs.] What motion's this? the model of Nineveh? --Beau. & Fl. Note: Motion, in mechanics, may be simple or compound. Simple motions are:

   1. straight translation, which, if of indefinite duration, must be reciprocating.

   2. Simple rotation, which may be either continuous or reciprocating, and when reciprocating is called oscillating.

   3. Helical, which, if of indefinite duration, must be reciprocating.

      Compound motion consists of combinations of any of the simple motions.

      Center of motion, Harmonic motion, etc. See under Center, Harmonic, etc.

      Motion block (Steam Engine), a crosshead.

      Perpetual motion (Mech.), an incessant motion conceived to be attainable by a machine supplying its own motive forces independently of any action from without. According to the law of conservation of energy, such perpetual motion is impossible, and no device has yet been built that is capable of perpetual motion.

      Syn: See Movement.

n. The motion of some hypothetical device that continues forever with no obvious input of energy in violation of the laws of thermodynamics.

n. motion that continues indefinitely without any external source of energy; impossible in practice because of friction

Perpetual Motion is a Patience game which has the objective of discarding playing cards from the tableau. It is also called Idiot's Delight because of the time-consuming process of the game.

Perpetual motion is motion that continues indefinitely without any external source of energy.

Perpetual motion may also refer to:

Perpetual motion is motion of bodies that continues indefinitely. This is impossible because of friction and other energy-dissipating processes. 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.

These laws of thermodynamics apply even at very grand scales. For example, the motions and rotations of celestial bodies such as planets may appear perpetual, but are actually subject to many processes that slowly dissipate their kinetic energy, such as solar wind, interstellar medium resistance, gravitational radiation and thermal radiation, so they will not keep moving forever.

Thus, machines which extract energy from finite sources will not operate indefinitely, because they are driven by the energy stored in the source, which will eventually be exhausted. A common example is devices powered by ocean currents, whose energy is ultimately derived from the Sun, which itself will eventually burn out. Machines powered by more obscure sources have been proposed, but are subject to the same inescapable laws, and will eventually wind down.

Perpetual Motion is an album of classical music released in 2001. The album is unique in that none of the pieces featured on it are played on the instruments for which they were written. Arrangers Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer won a Grammy in 2002 for their arrangement of Claude Debussy's "Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum". The album also won a Grammy as Best Classical Crossover Album.

Fleck assembled a group of musicians well-known on their own instruments: violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Gary Hoffman, percussionist Evelyn Glennie, double-bassist Edgar Meyer, mandolin player Chris Thile, and guitarists John Williams and Bryan Sutton.

"Perpetual Motion" is a science fiction short story written by L. Sprague de Camp, a story in his Viagens Interplanetarias series. It was first published under the title "Wide-Open Planet" in the magazine Future Combined with Science Fiction Stories in the issue for September-October, 1950. It first appeared in book form under the present title in the collection The Continent Makers and Other Tales of the Viagens, published in hardcover by Twayne Publishers in 1953, and in paperback by Signet Books in 1971. It was also included in the paperback edition of The Queen of Zamba published by Dale Books in 1977. This edition was reprinted by Ace Books in 1982 as part of the standard edition of the Krishna novels. A trade paperback edition in which the story was paired with Richard Wilson's "And Then The Town Took Off" was issued by Armchair Fiction in May, 2013 as Wide-Open Planet & And Then The Town Took Off. The story has been translated into Portuguese, Dutch, and Italian.

Perpetual Motion is an independent Chinese film directed by Ning Ying. The film follows four wealthy, high-powered women living in Beijing during the Chinese New Year. The film had its North American premiere on September 10, 2005 at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Perpetual Motion was co-written by Ning, musician and author Liu Sola, and publisher Hung Huang (Hung and Liu also star) and was produced by Beijing Happy Village, Ltd.

The film opened in Chinese cities in late February 2006 to some controversy due to its depiction of assertive, sexually confident women. The version shown was slightly edited compared to the versions shown abroad in Toronto and Venice, with some of the more explicit discussions on sex as well as a scene involving the four main characters listening to an old revolutionary song in high heels and makeup being edited or cut. Given its content, Perpetual Motion is often referred to as a Chinese version of the American television series Sex and the City.