Unbalanced lever: does it rotate, and how?

[Tuber]

Broli and AB,

Thanks for your replies. I understand that the design surely will not rotate for ever, if it would rotate a bit that would be less then a full cycle. Otherwise this would have been found out already long ago, as AB rightly points out. 

What is confusing me though, is that people give different answers to the question "Will it rotate by itself, when released at position 1?"

50% say that it will not move at all, vs. 50% say that it goes counter clockwise (ranging from "just a little bit" to "about 90 degrees"). 

[broli]

Broli and AB,

Thanks for your replies. I understand that the design surely will not rotate for ever, if it would rotate a bit that would be less then a full cycle. Otherwise this would have been found out already long ago, as AB rightly points out. 

What is confusing me though, is that people give different answers to the question "Will it rotate by itself, when released at position 1?"

50% say that it will not move at all, vs. 50% say that it goes counter clockwise (ranging from "just a little bit" to "about 90 degrees"). 

The reason why is that it depends on a few factors. Like the angle between the guiding rail and lever arm. If this was 90° everywhere we end up in a nice circle and have ourselves a wheel. It's when you play with this angle that the torque also changes.