I always thought that the Coriolis Effect made water go down the drain
counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. But, it's not true:

http://www.TheCoriolisEffect.com

- Joe Leo

On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:04:18 GMT, Joe Leo wrote:

I always thought that the Coriolis Effect made water go down the drain
counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. But, it's not true:



See also:

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


Another urban myth, I'm afraid.



http://www.TheCoriolisEffect.com

- Joe Leo

JPG wrote:

On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:04:18 GMT, Joe Leo wrote:

I always thought that the Coriolis Effect made water go down the drain
counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. But, it's not true:



See also:

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


Another urban myth, I'm afraid.

But isn't the Coriolis effect responsible for uneven wear on north/south
railway lines, with the more easterly rail wearing more, since the
locomotive is being pushed in that direction. Or is that anothe urban
myth?

--

Peter

Peter Hayes wrote:
JPG wrote:

On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:04:18 GMT, Joe Leo wrote:

I always thought that the Coriolis Effect made water go down the drain
counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. But, it's not true:



See also:

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


Another urban myth, I'm afraid.

But isn't the Coriolis effect responsible for uneven wear on north/south
railway lines, with the more easterly rail wearing more, since the
locomotive is being pushed in that direction. Or is that anothe urban
myth?

--

Peter

It doesn't make any difference which way the railway is
aligned; the right-hand rail is always more affected but the amount is
negligible. The force for a train travelling at the routine 125 mph is
0.0006 times the weight. This is the same as travelling at that speed
round a left-hand curve of about 140 miles radius. Not exactly a
hairpin bend, even for a railway. The effect of a moderate side wind
would be at least an order of magnitude greater, as would a few extra
passengers on the right-hand side of the carriage. There may have been
a difference in the wear in steam days because the right-hand cylinder
always leads the left-hand one. (Not applicable to Streaks, Spams and
Jubes, as they have 3 cylinders).

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.

Peter Hayes wrote:

But isn't the Coriolis effect responsible for uneven wear on north/south
railway lines, with the more easterly rail wearing more, since the
locomotive is being pushed in that direction. Or is that anothe urban
myth?

Who told you that one?

If you had a logical reason for believing it you would have considered
the other parameters such as the fact no rail lines are ever perfectly
straight and that most engines in locomotives will be more likely
culprits, if there is any possible reason to believe anything about it.

As regards a bathtub and all that stuff, the container is moving about
the earth's axis at the same velocity as the water in it. What else
seems to evade everyone when this subject arises (perennially) is that
the water on the top of the resevoir has more potential energy than the
stuff below it and this energy is not directly used up in falling
through the plug hole.

Large votices have lesser ones and they still less inside them and
smaller ones have smaller ones all making up the wide 'un.

Tudor Hughes wrote:

It doesn't make any difference which way the railway is
aligned; the right-hand rail is always more affected but the amount is
negligible. The force for a train travelling at the routine 125 mph is
0.0006 times the weight. This is the same as travelling at that speed
round a left-hand curve of about 140 miles radius. Not exactly a
hairpin bend, even for a railway. The effect of a moderate side wind
would be at least an order of magnitude greater, as would a few extra
passengers on the right-hand side of the carriage. There may have been
a difference in the wear in steam days because the right-hand cylinder
always leads the left-hand one.

I should like to know where this somewhat mystical data has come from
and how.

When you next see a film of WW II aircraft taking off, try and get a
look at the set of the rudders on the planes. All the British ones were
angled right IIRC (when the pilot wasn't weaving to try and see where
he was going) because the engines most in use were the Rolls Royce
Kestrels, Merlins and Gryphons. And they all rotated the same way.

The problem was particularly pronounced in the Mosquito apparently. I
vaguely remember the story of a pilot new to them, giving a VIP a tour
of the hangars and stores instead of getting them up and away. :~))

Joe Leo wrote:
I always thought that the Coriolis Effect made water go down the drain
counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. But, it's not true:

http://www.TheCoriolisEffect.com

Following on from my speculation on your efforts in another newsgroup;
may one ask if the pay pal scheme is in any way rewarding?

http://groups.google.com/groups?enc_...h6ww&scoring=d

I can't imagine anyone would be dumb enough to subscribe but then
again, I would not have thought that a world power could be controlled
by a substantial minority and still be called a democratic process, nor
that it would vote for a monkey.