Posted by Dr. Science on 04/01/2013 in
Question |
Why can’t I take electrical energy, run it through a transformer, and continue to create electricity for free?
———- from Joe Price of Honolulu, HI
You could, but you’d risk being punished by the Underwriter’s Laboratory Police. These agents, often disguised as a little guy with jagged arms and legs and a lightbulb for a head, lurk around in our basements just waiting for someone to try to violate the First Law of Thermodynamics. Punishment is swift and certain. Imagine having electrodes attached to your nostrils and toes, and then wired to a sine wave generator cranking fifty amps. No, it’s best to play by the rules, unless your idea of a good time is twitching like a frog leg.
