Friday Funny: It’s true, Toilets do flow the other direction in Australia

For many years, when I have visited the US for conferences, there is always someone who makes a joke about the toilets flowing in the other direction in Australia. I am not talking about back up (unless there is really bad flooding), but the direction of the rotation as the water flows down.

The answer is yes, it does flow the other way. It is called the Coriolis Effect or Coriolis Force after the French Scientist, Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis who wrote a paper on the topic in 1835.

So why did I bring this up now…. well, the Tube of You brought up the following video as a suggested video and it is a really good demonstration of the Coriolis Effect working just by moving a short distance either side of the Earth’s Equator.

I thought I would share it as it is cool to watch science in action in very practical terms.

Ecuador At the Equator – Water Demonstration – Coriolis Effect (direct link)

If you have not seen the Simpson’s take on this whole topic, check out the video below:

Coriolis Effect Simpsons (direct link)

Enjoy

David

This article was originally posted on http://www.winthropdc.com/blog.