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theory, none of the inventions ever created using the eternal engine concept have proven to be
functional (Collins 3).
During the medieval times, failure of eternal engine machines was barely understood
with inventors devising more intricate and bigger systems to achieve perpetual motion. However,
with the development of modern physics and thermodynamics, the reasons behind the
impossibilities of perpetual motion have become more evident (Ord-Hume 34). The first and
arguably biggest impediment to eternal engines is the first law of thermodynamics. Eternal
engines are theoretically able to create energy as they do not require input or energy outside their
environment which is in contradiction to the first law of thermodynamics which states that the
total energy of a system is constant. Energy can, therefore, be converted from one form to the
other but can neither be created nor destroyed. Consequently, perpetual motion becomes an
impossibility because, without external energy to propel the system, energy conserved in the
system is bound to be converted to heat through friction and lost resulting in the eventual
collapse of the system. For instance, Robert Fludd’s water screw would fail to recirculate the
water because the potential energy stored in the water would eventually be converted to heat and
lost through friction in the system’s rotating cogs (Weiss 234-239).
Another challenge of actualizing eternal engines lies in the concept of entropy embodied
by the second law of thermodynamics. According to the law, the degree of disorder for an
isolated system always increases over time (Weiss 236-239). As such, the efficiency of eternal
engines would decrease over time as entropy increases. In line with this argument, it is
impossible to devise a system that not only maintains efficiency but experiences constant or
decreased entropy over time without interacting with external energy sources. Consequently, it is
