The
forces of weather creates winds that blow in a straight direction.
But
if you've ever studied weather, you've probably seen that wind
doesn't always blow straight—winds tend to veer off in curving
paths as they travel over the Earth's surface.
For
example, huge storms called hurricanes (or cyclones or typhoons) famously rotate
like giant pinwheels around the eye—the calm center of the storm.
Why
is that?
A man named Coriolis first described the physics of energy
in rotating systems. We call the "force" that causes air
and water to travel in curving paths, because of the rotation of the
Earth, the Coriolis effect.
Born
in Paris, France, in 1792, Coriolis is one of 72 names of scientists
and engineers engraved on the Eiffel Tower in the late 1800s. The
engraved names are painted in gold.
Contrary
to popular belief....
The
Coriolis effect has nothing to do with the direction of water
swirling down the drain in sinks and toilets. It only works on very
large scales, such as planetary atmospheres and oceans. Still, many
people will tell you that water in toilets and sinks swirls
counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the
Southern Hemisphere, due to this force.
It
just isn't so.
The
direction that the water swirls has to do with the shape of the sink
or toilet bowl, and also of course the way that the water enters the
bowl. Maybe you can start observing all the sinks and toilets you
have access to and see if they all empty with swirls of water in the
same or different directions.
Learn
more about the Coriolis force.
The Little Shop of Physics even has a suggested activity that should help
explain what the force is all about.
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