Leo Ackermann's test...

[Low-Q]

The wheel itself is not balanced. If the inventor removed everytning except the rim, the wheel would have turn a few degrees anyway. The problem is common when spokes are not tighten evenly. I takes a good set of skills to tighten spokes perfectly to balance the wheel.
Why did he not let the wheel go? Why does he stop it when we clearly see that the wheel slows down right before he stops it by hand? The answer is in the sentences above.


The bottom line is that gravity cannot do work in a closed system. You need an open system with energy input. Hydropower works because of the sun, an external powersupply that vaporize water from the ocean. The convection in the atmosphere takes that vapor high up in the sky, and it condenses into clouds, then the clouds forms droplets due to aerosols, the raindroplets falls down and fills the lakes in the hills. Then the water flows back to the sea via powerplants.



Vidar

[iacob alex]

.....can be simplified to the basics (the wheel , simply...as a possible continuous gravity unbalanced lever ) , so to make more intelligible (and more ... AVAILABLE ! ) the gravity unbalance ...we can illustrate as something "alike"(two arms , only...and the size ) at :   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7AN2IR8p9w
     Al_ex

[norman6538]

The build is nice but A couple things that count more. 
1. draw a circle around the weights and you will see the center of gravity is below the axle.
2. I made a similar wheel that is self tilting so the leverage of a small weight dropped lifting a larger weight and it started and then stopped.

I just failed on 6 or 8 of these designs.
See Bessler topic power to the people for those details.
I worked on the Kerry spring idea with some modifications.
There are 2 things that count 1. what is above the axle and below the axle
2. what is right or left of the vertical.
And these together make up the CG.
Many times I have used a small weight with leverage to reposition a larger weight
making rotation but then to undo that without being bottom heavy does not work.

here it is power to the people  kerry wheel
http://www.besslerwheel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8024
Attached is an example. Sorry the photo is upside down. flip it.
When rotating ccw the large weight will increase its radius
when it reaches noon because the small leveraged weight drops and lifts the larger
weight. This only has one set but 2 sets do not work. I present this for rapid prototype
ideas. The brown wheel is the lid from a pizza box and I use coffee stirs sticks and
paper clips straightened out carefully. The axle is a bicycle spoke because it is
strong and straight and it sits in a milk jug plastic V trough. I never build an expensive
large device till a smaller rapid prototype works.


Norman