Thanks for that. that breaks it down into laymens terms.

Doesn't it feel good to be brighter than Lisa Simpson for once?

S

... and if he stood exactly on the equator it turned about as much as an Ashley Giles delivery?

Nasty... Just plain nasty...

He probably a greater chance of getting somebody out too...

S

I have to say that if you looked at this logically then you would see that it makes no sense.
If the effects are so strong just a few meters from the equator, as in the Palin farce, imagine how strong it would be in say the far north of Norway or Tasmania!?
You would need a strap on every sink to stop you being sucked down with the sheer force of the vortex.

I suppose i didn't really think about whether it made sense!
Just took it as read, hmm, how many other things do we accept as fact without questioning?!?

Yes the water does go round and down the plug hole the other way.
Don't ask me why but I remember getting out of the bath first day of waking up and pulling the plug out a bit jet lagged i found myself staring at the plug hole and then it occured to me my god I did this at school and yes it does go down the plug hole the other way !!! Shouted for hubby - I'm sure he thought there was a huntsman spider in with me and we both stood there til the water was gone....... sad really lol

Not only that but it never occured to us the sun goes round the opposite way too, here we always move our chairs clockwise out of teh shade into the sun but spent our last day in Australia completely bemused of how the sun was evading us lol it was our first proper relaxing day and we had friends visit us at our hotel so their kids could use the pool on the roof - of course kept wondering why my friend kept giving me funny looks but then thought she was looking at my stretch marks lol
It then occured to me the sun was moving in the opposite direction, stupidly looked up and said loudly oh i get it now, moved my chair plonked myself down and got a huge thumbs up from our aussie pals lol.

ahhh dear little things make me smile

Jen

Have you not read any of the previous posts?

No couldn't be bothered to trail through all the posts so read the first one and replied

Jen

You may want to read them, or at least number 13!

Hi Jen

go and turn the tap on...do they go clockwise or anti clockwise?

in OZ they are anti clockwise, bet its clockwise in the UK

The OH

An easy way to understand the Coriolis "force" (Which isn't really a force but can be treated as one) is just to think of how fast you are going due to the earth's rotation at one point and then to walk say away from the equator: your "rotational" speed will reduce since you are getting closer to the axis of rotation. All else being equal this translates to a tendency to turn right in the Northern hemisphere and left in the antipodes.

As others have said, the effects of Coriolis are vastly outweighed by starting conditions like pulling the plug etc so while theoretically the water *will* go down in different directions in practice it can never be repeatedly observed.

Oh yeah it does and the Kangaroos jump around wi boomerangs stuck up their arses ......oh and did I mention they do Morris Dancin in there spare time.....but yet to find out which one is Morris

What way round are the taps? And do you have a deep or shallow sink, is the tap metal or rubber, and is it hot or cold water? All these factors have an effect as does the way the earth spin, the speed at which it does, the tilt of the earth and what foot you are standing on while you are touching your nose with your finger!

And Jen if you or any one else who thinks this is NOT an urban myth could get in touch with Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge uni's they will be thankful that you have discovered such vital information while stood in your bathrooms!

Thanks.