Go Flush Your Toilets
Ok, so I'm sure you've all heard the rumor that draining water (or more specifically toilet water) rotates one way North of the equator and another way South of the equator. I've certainly heard it and people usually quote the "Coriolis Effect" as the driving force behind this difference. The Coriolis Effect is, of course, named after world famous industrialist and "grandfather of the modern potty" Antoine Coriolis whose son Thomas Crapper invented the ballcock (look it up, that's what its called).
I have also heard many people in my more recent years claiming that this is a myth and that water drainage is in no way influenced by Coriolis, Crapper or hemispheres. In preparing to visit New Zealand I was very excited that I would be able to really examine this toilet myth and so as soon as we crossed over the equator on the plane I tried the airplane toilet. Of course that was no use because apparently toilets near the equator make a large sucking noise and squirt blue liquid. As soon as we landed I tried the toilet in the Auckland airport and to my dismay the toilet was of a very different design and it (and also it turns out all New Zealand toilets) did not spin the water at all. They just sort of "swoosh" it (that's an industry term) down.
So here we go, I'm in the Southern and (most of) you are in the Northern hemisphere. Let's put this myth to the test. Tonight I filled the sink with water and Carrie and I carefully watched it drain. The drain in the sink spins the water COUNTERCLOCKWISE (when viewed from above) here. So if you would all take a moment to go flush your toilets (or, if you like, fill your sinks) and watch which way the water is spinning and then return and reply to this message it would be great. Let's settle this once and for all.
Matt
10 comments:
I'll flush first chance I get and let you know....I like thanksgiving too -- only this year I just went with the straight Prime Rib meal...I did throw in mashed potatoes because they are good....Good luck catching another bat!
dpg
Yeah...I think Karli is right! I drained a sink here at the Wilson building in DC and the water went down counter clockwise...but I decided to try another bathroom on a different floor which has a different sink -- and it went down clockwise...small amount of water is dominated by the style of the sink...dpg
the lab sink in my lab sends it down counter clockwise...
sarah k.
Tim McLarnan, who is among the top three smartest people I know, said it has to do with the "spin" of different particles. Or something like that.
It was in Multivariate Calculus, so my brain was fried at the time.
This link seems to pretty much settle the question, at least for me:
www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html
Very interesting experiment! From Dayton, after careful study, the water in the bathroom sinks flows clockwise. However, the toilet flows counterclockwise.
And last night while I was cleaning out my carboy to put my home brew in it --- I noticed the water would flow out of the neck of the carboy either clockwise or counterclockwise depending on which I started the flow.
dpg
mine went counter clockwise
Clockwise in the sink here!
This might be a year late bt a comment nonetheless:
Here are results from my bathroom(s) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:
1st toilet - counter clockwise
1st basin - counter clockwise
2nd toilet - nowhere in particular, just split in half.duh.. coz the water jet directs it to the middle
so im with Karli about the big IF:
the flow is very much influenced by
- bowl/basin shape
- direction of water pump jet (fr toilet)or where the jet forces the water flow to
- where the basin tap is - it affects the flow of water spin of course! that website adam provided confirms this saying that the Coriolis force hardly takes effects at all. u need to let the water stand fr aaaaaages to kill motion from tap flow, get water to drain from a tiny hole at the bottom (so the flow is super slow that nature cld take over force) and avoid splash from pulling water plug (so, plug n pull from bottom, outside of water)
yeah. im a geek hiding in a hot bod of a TESL student.
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