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I was surfing across internet and landed at a post on Twitter, suggesting this design as a form of infinite transportation.

design

So, I decided to ask it on Physics Stack exchange, to find out if it is actually possible.

This is the original tweet

Qmechanic
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dom_cobb
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1 Answers1

5

[standard magnet-pulling-car-it’s-attached-to]

No. Momentum is conserved, so infinite transport in a closed system is not possible. I can say this automatically.

In this particular case, the magnet will be pulled backward by the metal just as hard as the metal will be pulled forward. Magnetism isn’t a one-sided force; it applies to both objects involved. So the force on the magnet and the force on the metal will exactly cancel out; the car might nudge forward until the magnet hits the metal (no more than the magnet will nudge backward, keeping the center of mass in place), but after that point the car won’t move.

controlgroup
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