Water goes down the shower drain clockwise in North America and anticlockwise In South America. How do we call the phenomenon?

The Earth's rotation means that we experience an apparent force known as the Coriolis force. This deflects the direction of the wind to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. This is why the wind-flow around low- and high-pressure systems circulates in opposing directions in each hemisphere.

The Coriolis effect was described by the 19th-century French physicist and mathematician Gustave-Gaspard de Coriolis in 1835. He formulated theories of fluid dynamics through studying waterwheels, and realized the same theories could be applied to the motion of fluids on the surface of the Earth.

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61 Comments

William Laughlin

Melissa Brooks, Anticlockwise is an acceptable alternative to counterclockwise. They mean the same thing. Anticlockwise is more commonly used in British Commonwealth countries. Try to expand your mind. It might also help to do some research before you make a fool of yourself by ranting. BTW, you are hardly one to criticize someone's grammar. Your phrase, "do to the devise" should read, "DUE to the DEVICE."

John Moore

In actual fact there is no truth in this at all. The Coriolis effect is too weak to make any difference. It's been demonstrated many times that water goes down a hole depending on the shape of the item it is running out of. It is a myth

dick aspel

Anticlockwise indeed exists- and we invented English after all.

Julie Allen

The influence of the Coriolis force on spin direction is real, but it is generally only observable on very large scales, such as trade winds and hurricanes. The affect the Coriolis force has on a toilet bowl is much too small to actually see in a flushing toilet but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

JRW

William Laughlin, just a small correction to what you have said above. The British Commonwealth ceased to exist in 1949. Since then the official name is The Commonwealth of Nations, usually just called The Commonwealth.

johnpburkhardt

water can go down the drain either way or without any spin in any part of the world.

Karen Copus

This is NOT true !!!

Player

It's nothing to do with NorS America, its the northern and southern hemispheres.

Char

William Laughlin, I like her word better it's what I use as well

Char

Great Q and A though I never heard of it til now though I watched water go down my drains a lot.. though I never saw it go the other way just saying

Lewis Corley

The statement is backwards. Counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.

Mitch Ivey

This is an old wives tale.

timwhitestevens

Carroll Price, I agree.

timwhitestevens

David Wilhite, I agree.

timwhitestevens

Julie Allen, That is because toilet bowls have a predetermined direction as indicated by their jets, or usually straight down. If you fill a large sink, that does not have a preferential disposition, you will see a whirl pool that spins in the direction determined by the coriolis force. This is the same direction that the earth rotates; counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. (The question got the directions backwards.) Try it.

timwhitestevens

John Moore, I disagree, as long as the container does not have any predetermined shape. I have tried this by letting the water out of a large sink that was full of water. The direction of the whirlpool in the United States was counter clockwise and in Australia was clockwise. Try it. (The question got the directions backwards.)

timwhitestevens

Except you got it backwards; it goes counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. This is because the earth rotates counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. This is the same with hurricanes. On the equator it does not rotate and goes straight down.