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nThenforces of weather creates winds that blow in a straight direction.
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nButnif you’ve ever studied weather, you’ve probably seen that windndoesn’t always blow straight—winds tend to veer off in curvingnpaths as they travel over the Earth’s surface.
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nFornexample, huge storms called hurricanes (or cyclones or typhoons) famously rotatenlike giant pinwheels around the eye—the calm center of the storm.
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Whynis that?
Whynis that? n
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nA man named Coriolis first described the physics of energynin rotating systems. We call the “force” that causes airnand water to travel in curving paths, because of the rotation of thenEarth, the Coriolis effect.
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nBornnin Paris, France, in 1792, Coriolis is one of 72 names of scientistsnand engineers engraved on the Eiffel Tower in the late 1800s. Thenengraved names are painted in gold. n
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Contrarynto popular belief….
Contrarynto popular belief….n
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nThenCoriolis effect has nothing to do with the direction of waternswirling down the drain in sinks and toilets. It only works on verynlarge scales, such as planetary atmospheres and oceans. Still, manynpeople will tell you that water in toilets and sinks swirlsncounterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in thenSouthern Hemisphere, due to this force.
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nItnjust isn’t so.
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nThendirection that the water swirls has to do with the shape of the sinknor toilet bowl, and also of course the way that the water enters thenbowl. Maybe you can start observing all the sinks and toilets younhave access to and see if they all empty with swirls of water in thensame or different directions.
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nLearnnmore about the Coriolis force.
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nThe Little Shop of Physics even has a suggested activity that should helpnexplain what the force is all about.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nSheep Festival in Cameroon
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nIndependence Day in Montenegro
