Comments on: DrainSpin North and South of the Equator

Question: DrainSpin North and South of the Equator

goalyeehah — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:33:33 -0800

Do drain's really drain counterclockwise in the Southern hemisphere?

I heard this years ago and took it at face value as I had never traveled to south of the equator. Is this true?

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:35:43 -0800

no.

By: forallmankind

forallmankind — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:36:30 -0800

See point #3

By: Paragon

Paragon — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:53:11 -0800

By: tkolar

tkolar — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:13:07 -0800

Also, notice that your drain does not always drain clockwise in the Northern hemisphere. That should save you a trip if you want to verify things.

By: RogerB

RogerB — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:22:08 -0800

Also debunked on Snopes. And please avoid the greengrocers' apostrophe.

By: strawberryviagra

strawberryviagra — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:26:54 -0800

News Flash!! In the Southern Hemisphere just moments ago in a series of haphazardly controlled experiments, water spiralled anti-clockwise down the drain (the myth suggests that it StraightDope).

BTW, contrary to what StraightDope claims - we don't have Hurricanes - we have Cyclones, which poses another question: What happens on the equator?

By: strawberryviagra

strawberryviagra — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:29:27 -0800

that should read:
.... the myth suggests that it should spiral clockwise in the South, according to StraightDope ....

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:43:19 -0800

Do drain's really drain counterclockwise in the Southern hemisphere?

In answer to your actual question, yes, they do occasionally, but not necessarily always.

By: adipocere

adipocere — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:48:06 -0800

Typically, hurricanes won't start until you're five degrees (about 310 miles) away from the equator.

By: TheOtherGuy

TheOtherGuy — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:52:47 -0800

In a nutshell, the Coriolis Effect is too weak to have an effect on the movement of water around a sinkhole.

Its effect is only apparent over large areas, such as a tropical storm or cyclones.

By: twirlypen

twirlypen — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 23:15:17 -0800

TheOtherGuy has it right. The forces that affect the way water spins in a sink are dominated by the design of that sink, not the Coriolis Effect.

By: brockerst

brockerst — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 02:00:07 -0800

Do drain's really drain clockwise in the Northern hemisphere?

By: 31d1

31d1 — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 02:41:37 -0800

The moon is upside down down there, though. Freaky!

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 03:40:53 -0800

My partner saw a demonstration at the equater where two soda bottles were turned over at the equator, each on opposite sides. The water swirled down in opposite directions on each side. I wonder how they made it do that.

Aside from the accepted idea that the coriolis is too weak to cause this, it seemed to me to be rediculous to suggest the effect could be observed at such trivial distances apart, at the equator.

My drain went down clockwise. I am in the southern hemisphere. I've been waiting for see this come up, because I can never remember which way it goes up north.

By: strawberryviagra

strawberryviagra — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 03:48:45 -0800

I'm in the South as well Goofyy and the video I posted above shows it going anti-clockwise. The bowl is symmetrical.

By: caek

caek — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 04:28:04 -0800

My partner saw a demonstration at the equater where two soda bottles were turned over at the equator, each on opposite sides. The water swirled down in opposite directions on each side. I wonder how they made it do that.

This demonstration appears in an episode of Michael Palin's Pole to Pole, too. It's a truck for the benefit of tourists.

By: lester's sock puppet

lester's sock puppet — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 05:54:47 -0800

well, quite a few years ago i tried an experiment in my northern hemisphere bathtub. I wasa easily able to reverse the direction--but found that often, after a minute or so, it would revert back to clockwise. I concluded that the effect was there, but easily manipulated by other factors.

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 10:58:39 -0800

Also note the Straight Dope article is the first hit in the obvious Google search.