yolandacharm

Ok, having read the thread on lightbulbs, very funny! it got me to thinking about the water in the sink.
Not that i spend a lot of time watching water go down a drain, but does it go down the opposite way to the way it goes down over here?
Good grief, i am confusing myself!
Do let me know though! can't wait!
for the visa that is!!

The Murphsters

In a word no!

I have got no idea why we were all taught in school that this was the case!
I never knew this until i read the lightbulbs thread, i did some digging...

http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html

yolandacharm

Thank you!

Katsmajics other half !!!

i had a friend who went away on hols near the equator and they had a bucket of water in the bucket was a jug of water and a hole in the bottom of the bucket.....when you filled the bucket weith water he said it went one way round.....then after he walked 30yds he did the same test and the whirlpool affect went the other way.

he crossed the equator and the water went the other round he is very well respected, clever and i trust this guy alot.

That will do for me.

hope that makes sense

iceman

It does happen that way. The effect is caused by deflection from the earth's rotation, the same thing that causes cyclonic weather patterns to spin opposite ways in the hemispheres, hence the alternative name for a cyclone (or hurricane in the north) being an anti-cyclone.

The Murphsters

I would suggest you check this link,
halfway down is a story about people conning tourists in Africa with this trick.

http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html

I know it sounds silly after all it is what we were always told in school, but it does appear that it is not the case at all. I was gob smacked too!

Swerv-o

No, the Coriolis force is not strone enough to influence the rotation of a draining sink. Other forces within the water in the sink will overcome the coriolis force, eg currents created when the plug is pulled up through the water, or convection currents operating within the water, depending on its temperature. These forces are much stronger than the very weak coriolis force, so these will influence the sink draining instead.

The website that the other poster linked is an excellent resource for understanding the phenomenon. Also, if you are really interested, then have a look at the Wikipedia entry for Coriolis effect - there is a methematical derivation of the system of forces which shows how it works (if you are mathematically minded).

Sadly many people (even professionals who shpould know better) purport the alleged coriolis effect as being fact when really it is just another urban myth...

S

Swerv-o

So you're willing to believe that on the basis of one set of second hand results? If you repeated that experiment 100 times, as you should for scientific efficacy, then you will find that the water flows from the bucket in both directions on both sides of the equator.

S

BadgeIsBack

Coriolis Effect?

Kimmy67

I live South of Perth and the water goes down my plug hole anti clockwise. Where as it used to go down Clockwise in the Uk in the midlands.

I don't watch plug holes but my husband had made a point of telling me this due to the north and south equator thing.

Hey I just listen and nod

Kim

Tiawamutu

What about the force?

Swerv-o

The force will be with you... Always.

fnord

Another myth-busting site here, also discussing the flush bosh.

Vin 'n Bin

One of the first things I did when I came to Australia 35 years ago...was to see which way the water went down the plughole ...because my uncle who had been in the British Navy and visited Australia many times said it went down the opposite way to what it did in the northern hemisphere. Down here it goes around clockwise and in the northern hemisphere it goes down anti-clockwise ...I tried it last year in England.

chrispy

It is true that the earths rotation has an effect but it is very small (cyclones being somewhat larger with more energy obviousley have a far greater impact!). The main factor that determines the way the water goes down the plughole is the shape of the basin/bath/bucket.. it has far more influence than the hemisphere you are in. this was demonstrated very well in an episode of "Brainiacs" about a year ago.