Perpetual Motion

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

Perpetual Motion 8x32 Strathspey for 3C by Sue McKinnell

1-8 1C and 3C turn RH ¾ to end in a line up and down the set, W facing down; M facing up. 1C and 3C dance a ½ reel of 4 up and down the set. 1C and 3C turn LH ¾ to end on opposite sides; 1C in 3rd place, 3C in 1st place.
9-16 1C and 2C dance ladies' chain across and back.
17-20 1M followed by 1W and 3W followed by 3M dance ½ way CCW around the set to end in original places.
21-24 1M cast behind 2M and into the center of the dance in 2nd place
WHILE 1W dance down between 2C and turn left about; 2C step up immediately. 1C turn LH once round to face 1st corners.
25-32 1C turn 1st corners RH, pass RS in the center of the dance to face 2nd corners; turn 2nd corners RH, and pass RS across the dance to end on own sides in 2nd place.

Repeat.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Sue McKinnell, May 2001)

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

Perpetual Motion - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Information

Suggested music is Delvine Side from Ghillies on the Golden Gate.

(Dance information by the deviser, Sue McKinnell)

Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, since its existence would violate either the first or second law of thermodynamics, or both.

The laws of thermodynamics are universally applicable, irrespective of the scale of the system. For instance, celestial bodies like planets may exhibit seemingly perpetual motions and rotations, yet various processes, such as solar wind, interstellar medium resistance, gravitational radiation, and thermal radiation, gradually dissipate their kinetic energy. Consequently, these celestial bodies are not destined to sustain perpetual motion.

Similarly, machines extracting energy from finite sources are constrained by the finite nature of their energy reservoirs. As an illustration, devices powered by ocean currents derive their energy from the Sun, which, in the long term, will exhaust its own energy reservoir. Hence, such machines are not capable of indefinite operation, as they rely on energy sources with finite capacities.

Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Perpetual motion article on Wikipedia.

Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'Perpetual Motion' page