Page:Conservationofen00stew.djvu/45

Rh vary our hypothesis by making the kilogramme rise vertically, but descend by means of a smooth inclined plane without friction—imagine in fact, the kilogramme to be shaped like a ball or roller, and the plane to be perfectly smooth. Now, it is well known to all students of dynamics, that in such a case the velocity which the kilogramme has when it has reached the bottom of the plane will be equal to that which it would have had if it had been dropped down vertically through the same height, and thus, by introducing a smooth inclined plane of this kind, you neither gain nor lose anything as regards energy.

In the first place, you do not gain, for think what would happen if the kilogramme, when it reached the bottom of the inclined plane, should have a greater velocity than you gave it originally, when you shot it up. It would evidently be a profitable thing to shoot up the kilogramme vertically, and bring it down by means of the plane, for you would get back more energy than you originally spent upon it, and in every sense you would be a gamer. You might, in fact, by means of appropriate apparatus, convert the arrangement into a perpetual motion machine, and go on accumulating energy without limit—but this is not possible.

On the other hand, the inclined plane, unless it be rough and angular, will not rob you of any of the energy of the kilogramme, but will restore to you the full amount, when once the bottom has been reached. Nor does it