Which way does the water go down your plughole?

A friend of mine went to Oz from the UK and wanted to know which way the water went down a plughole back home. Just for you, here's the answer :)

Oh and there's also a bit about the Coriolis Effect thrown in for good measure.

Decent Reference about this effect can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Coriolis
• effect
• plughole
• plug
• drain
• sink
• water
• clockwise
• anti-clockwise
• educational

[MrCeiranevo]

u need to leave the water to stop moving then unplug it coz wen u take the plug out straight after u turn the tap off it then gets forced to go a certin way

[beakz]

@MrCeiranevo Thanks for the response. Any influence in the water motion causes the exaggerated angular momentum visible. The body of water isn't big enough, or ever settled enough to be influenced totally by the mass of the Earth for the Coriolis effect. This is how the "Showmen" who demonstrate this effect at the equator do it. They twist their hands in the water when removing the plug, influencing the direction of angular momentum. So one side of the line is clockwise, the other anti :)

[cleticprincess1956]

@beakz

It also depends on the design of the basin/sink, the shape and where the drain hole is placed. This saying it goes one way above the equator and the other below it is total bullshit.

[MrCeiranevo]

never knew that thanks