History of perpetual motion machines

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/history-of-perpetual-motion-machines

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is a perpetual motion machine?A perpetual motion machine is a machine that keeps running forever without needing more fuel or energy. It sounds like magic, but it goes against the rules of physics.
2. Why did people in the Middle Ages want to build them?People thought it could give them endless energy to help with work and everyday life. They imagined it would make life easier and cheaper.

Perpetual Motion: The hypothetical ability of a machine to perform work indefinitely without an external energy source.
Thermodynamics: A fundamental branch of physics concerned with heat, work, temperature, and energy, and their interrelationships.
Entropy: A thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often associated with disorder.