[Ruatha]

Originally posted by Kamog:
Hey, if you flush the toilet in the Southern Hemisphere, the water is supposed to swirl in the opposite direction as it goes down. I don't think this is true but I never had a chance to do an experiment to see if it's true.

I'll go flush my toilet right now and see which way it swirls...
OK, it swirls COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. I am in the Northern Hemisphere.

I don't think I'll have an opportunity to visit the Southern Hemiphere anytime soon, so if you live there, please try flushing your toilet. (And if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, does your toilet swirl counter-clockwise like mine does?)

I wonder what happens if you're at the North Pole, or South Pole, or on the Equator?

The toilet is too small a system for the coriolis effect to have any implication. Wich way the water turns in the toilet is based on where the water enters, imperfections in the toilet and where it exits. A toilet that spins the water clockwise on the nortern hemisphere will do so also on the south hemisphere.
The coriolis effect needs large weather systems to really make any impact.

Better explanation

[ December 17, 2002, 07:55: Message edited by: Ruatha ]