Capillary action in a small diameter tube can raise water (H2O) several centimeters. If you were to bend the end of the tube over, the water would attempt to flow out, but the cohesion (surface tension) creates a vacuum inside the tube holding the water molecules together (hydrogen bonding).
However, a small hole in the apex of the bend in the tube will allow air to enter and break the surface tension/cohesion. That allows the water to flow out of the end of the tube, thereby using gravity and chemical potential as the energy source.
Imagine a capillary tube with a restricted apex with only a few molecules of water hydrogen-bonded at the apex that is open to the air. A bulb on one side. When the bulb is filled from capillary effect, the mass of water in the bulb will overcome the adhesion to the sides of the bulb and break the surface tension/cohesion.
Heparin is a good tube material since it is composed of many Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules (increasing the capillary effect).
FYI, thermodynamics 2nd law basically states that only so much useful work can be harnessed from a heat differential. The above description is chemical potential energy at a small particulate level so the 2nd law is not applicable in this case.
While the amount of energy at that level is relatively small, a prototype using magnetically charged balls could be built with the above same principles. That would power a house or building, but not a car.
The difference between those examples and the one above is a hole in the apex. That took about a year for me to figure out. The device above will either work or it will force a new description of the underlying processes behind capillary action.
Simple yes. Locating a tube with that design is difficult. I have tried.
It is one of those things that requires a laboratory and a variety of materials and shapes.
Quote from: Gianna on February 04, 2013, 06:48:59 PM
Good luck with that..
However, I think you are certain to be disappointed.
Capiliary action has already been thoroughly investigated and does not give rise to any usable output energy. You are not the first to have postulated the device you describe and it has been proven not to work.
No. That design has never been tested. Who are you Gianna? I have studied classical physics and chemistry. I also spent over a year studying all material related to capillaries. Have you read Einstein's paper on capillaries written in 1905? Also, did you know that daVinci once stated that one day jet engines would be powered by capillary energy?
You have to apply another force to make water to flow out of capillary tube.
Use a ferromagnetic liquid and hold a strong magnet at the end of capillary tube. Magnetic force pulls the liquid out of the capillary tube. Once the liquid forms a hude drop on the magnet, it automatically falls down due to gravity.
Few interesting experiments on capillary force are posted in this forum itself :
By onthecuttingedge -
http://www.overunity.com/8311/capillary-fed-ferrofluid-magnet-motor/
By vineet_kiran -
http://www.overunity.com/12063/capillary-force-pump/
Quote from: Newton II on February 05, 2013, 12:51:31 AM
You have to apply another force to make water to flow out of capillary tube.
Use a ferromagnetic liquid and hold a strong magnet at the end of capillary tube. Magnetic force pulls the liquid out of the capillary tube. Once the liquid forms a hude drop on the magnet, it automatically falls down due to gravity.
Few interesting experiments on capillary force are posted in this forum itself :
By onthecuttingedge -
http://www.overunity.com/8311/capillary-fed-ferrofluid-magnet-motor/ (http://www.overunity.com/8311/capillary-fed-ferrofluid-magnet-motor/)
By vineet_kiran -
http://www.overunity.com/12063/capillary-force-pump/ (http://www.overunity.com/12063/capillary-force-pump/)
I agree. It is an engineering problem, not a physics "law" problem.
If someone wants to quote the poetry known as "Laws of Thermodynamics", I will simply tell them to start quoting the "Ideal Gas Law".
Entropy = q (reverse reaction) / T = "reverse that out little cutie" = "contain the combustion of our love".
It was a love story and every scientist falls in love with the poetry known as "Laws of Thermodynamics". "spontaneity of the universe" is poetry. That is not science.
Quote from: Gianna on February 07, 2013, 01:46:11 AM
I can guarantee that this is a physics problem, and the physics says it does not work.
You need way to remove the fluid from the capillary tube (or alternatively a supply of new empty ones) . The is no way to do this without requiring a supply of energy to overcome the molecular attraction that caused the capillary action in the first place.
In every case that amount of energy required will be more than (or at best equal to) the energy recoverable due to the water being lifted.
Yes. Thinking of this in terms of force vectors is correct. A magnet and gravity are the forces that can remove the fluid from the capillary tube. Hydrogen bonding is stronger than adhesion to the tube. It is an engineering problem to gain enough mass for gravity to overcome adhesion.