The Coriolis Effect

Demonstration on the equator in Uganda of the Coriolis effect - the impact of the earth's rotation on free-moving air and water masses.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Equator
• Travel
• Coriolis
• Uganda

[htercas]

Coriolis Force is NOT at all dominant at this scale. You should notice that the Ecker number (the ratio of viscous to ocriolis force) is very very small. What probably happened here is that an initial rotation was imprinted to the flow. Nothing else.

[brownmd01]

Thanks for your feedback. Your's is the most convincing explanation posted so far. Its clearly not the Coriolis effect causing this phenemona. It must therefore be some clever trick. At the time, it seemed very convincing. I guess these people on the border in Uganda do this so many times a day that they get quite clever at manipulating the direction of the flow of the water (as you suggest). Really, its an entertaining illusion - that's all.

[thelastwords]

this isn't coriolis

[brownmd01]

Yes, its now clear from the feedback I've received from this clip that the coriolis effect does not operate at the micro level. This demonstration looks convincing but is actually I guess a clever spoof. Thanks for the feedback.

[eltdown]

Nice video, but the Coriolis Effect cannot be demonstrated on such a small scale: it effects large weather systems. You can also see him using his hands to rotate the water, pretty blatantly at that.

[brownmd01]

I'm sure you're right but its very cleverly done. In which it must be possible to replicate this trick at home...

[ichbintharaka]

The water whirlpool has nothing to do with corriolis force.

[56dlp]

Actually its already been proven that the rotation of the earth cannot have any effect on how water goes down a drain. It is a total myth. This video is a poor representation of the coriolis effect.

[Kauffman540]

This trick has a major flaw in it, you say its the Coriolis Effect that drives this except in the Northern Hemisphere the water would drain counterclockwise and in the Southern, clockwise you have your whole show rigged backwards and the one on the equator I can tell you made the drain bigger so no vortex would form at all. It looks cool on the surface, but I hope anyone with an IQ much over 100 could figure out this isnt real

[gattopazzo80]

@realisticHomeboy We could say that this is the equivalent of a small pendulum in the middle of a sand storm ;) (hand turning, stand shaking, ...)

[realisticHomeboy]

@gattopazzo80 Well, it's not dominant in this kind of experiment. The imperfections and variations will decide what happens. But you can easily measure the Coriolis force with even a very small pendulum. Of course you need to be hundreds of kilometers away from the equator, instead of just a couple of meters.

[realisticHomeboy]

@rcwor1d That is incorrect. The Coriolis force affect any object that has horizontal motion. And draining water does have horizontal motion when it runs towards the drain. So the Coriolis force affecting the rotation on draining water is real. However on this scale, the imperfections and small variations are going to be the dominating factors deciding what way the water is going to swirl, plus you need to be hundreds of kilometers away from equator to experience the effect.

[realisticHomeboy]

It is indeed a scam. You need to be hundreds of kilometers away from the equator to experience such effects. Not just a few meters. They seem do this trick all over the world in every country/city that is on the equator. I saw the "demonstration" myself in Ecuador.

It's just a trick for tourists. The guy earns a little cash, and the tourists are entertained. You can't blame the guy for doing it, but it is fake.

[htercas]

Oh, you welcome! We are here (or at least should) to share a little bit of science as well. The Coriolis force is, indeed, relevant at geophysical scales, being therefore responsible for many different meteorological phenomena.