Why does the water swirl when I flush the toilet?
A typical response was to mention toilet bowls — specifically, the direction that the water swirls when you flush the toilet. Sometimes the response involved a sink or a bathtub, but usually a toilet. Invariably I was told that the direction of the swirl will reverse the moment that I cross the equator.
Which is direction does toilet water swirl at the equator?
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.
Is it true that water swirls in different directions?
Myth busted: Water does swirl in different directions across the globe, but it’s not a toilet thing. The Coriolis effect is probably the most scientific excuse humans have for staring into toilet bowls.
Why does toilet water drain clockwise or counterclockwise?
It is a commonly held misconception that toilet water always drains counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere because of the Coriolis force an acceleration imparted by the Earth’s rotation.
A typical response was to mention toilet bowls — specifically, the direction that the water swirls when you flush the toilet. Sometimes the response involved a sink or a bathtub, but usually a toilet. Invariably I was told that the direction of the swirl will reverse the moment that I cross the equator.
It is a commonly held misconception that toilet water always drains counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere because of the Coriolis force an acceleration imparted by the Earth’s rotation.
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.
Myth busted: Water does swirl in different directions across the globe, but it’s not a toilet thing. The Coriolis effect is probably the most scientific excuse humans have for staring into toilet bowls.
