Coriolis Effect Through Observation Of A Toilet example essay topic

In 1835, French engineer-mathematician Gustav-Gaspar d Coriolis described a phenomenon of bodies moving in a rotating frame of reference. He showed that an object will undergo an apparent deflection from its intended path, and that this 'Coriolis' effect must be considered when attempting to apply laws of motion. One can observe the Coriolis effect most easily when examining an object in motion. On earth, for example, an object moving along a north-south path will undergo an apparent westward deflection while in the northern hemisphere, and eastward deflection while in the southern hemisphere.

There are reasons for this, but basically things attached to the earth move faster at the equator than they do at the poles. Therefore, if one were to watch an object mover from the equator toward the North Pole, its path would be deflected toward the east. If that object were fired from a point at North Pole to a point on the equator in a southward direction, a person would see a deflection to the left. This type of displacement occurs regardless of which direction one might fire the object. Many believe that some mysterious 'Coriolis force' causes the deflection. Only unlike many believe, the 'Coriolis force' is untrue, much like its cousin centrifugal force.

The Coriolis effect has applications in astrophysics, stellar dynamics, meteorology, physical geology, oceanography, and atmospheric dynamics, but it is especially applicable to toilets. Studying the Coriolis effect through observation of a toilet gives you a great example. In a carefully controlled environment within the Northern Hemisphere, water will drain counterclockwise. While watching water spin down a toilet, one admires the spectacular dynamics of flushing-mechanics at work.

It is this that has driven us to study the Coriolis Effect. Since the dawn of time, man has yearned to know which way liquids drain and why, yet we have yet to explain the process of toilet-drainage. This leads to my question what are the common misconceptions about the Coriolis Effect. Also, what really makes liquids drain the way they do in our bathtubs and kitchen sinks? In common household drainage system, we do not have the benefit of huge inertial forces and large time scales. Everything is smaller, and the Coriolis deflection, which incidentally can be described as a vector quantity of acceleration, is miniscule.

In other words, there will not be any visible deflection due to the Coriolis effect unless the water in the vessel is stationary or barely moving. The flow-rate undergoes a deceleration as the amount and pressure of the water decreases. Another possibility is that there are reliable means by which to calculate hard data that are beyond our current understanding of physics; as the Coriolis effect may work differently in 2-plane geometry than it does in 3-plane geometry. Besides the rotational forces, we also would have had to consider gravity and its effect on the experiments. The water not only moves right to left, but also downward towards the center of the earth.

Though the pre-conceived notions about the Coriolis effect are not always true. Namely, the idea that things will always drain in a counterclockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere, and the conflict that a force acts to redirect the path of an object are incorrect. Lastly, the one thing that affects the direction of drainage is not the rotation of the earth, but the initial spin the liquid is given. There is an easy way of observing this. One must go to a sink and turn on the water.

Placing a hand between the flowing water and the sink deflects the water toward the northwest region of the sink. The water will begin to drain clockwise. Toilets can drain either way regardless of their location. Their drainage is most largely affected by the way in which the toilet was manufactured. Tiny jets that release the water are angled and determine the direction of the spin.

Though in a sink or bathtub, the Coriolis effect can be manipulated, on larger scales it must be taken into account. Weather patterns are also largely determined by the Coriolis effect as well. It is the reason that hurricanes (which appear in the Northern Hemisphere) and typhoons (which appear in the Southern Hemisphere) have opposite spins. The most important thing that is to be learned is that real-world physics is many times more difficult than what is done in class.

Though it is overwhelming to not fully understand what is going on, knowing that there will always be more to learn is what keeps most people going every day..