why does water drain clockwise?
106160
it doesn't in all countries, it depends which side of the equator you are on
240419
It should flow counterclockwise because of the Coriolis effect.\n\nHowever:\n\n>> But, the Coriolis force is very small, indeed. \n \nCompared to the rotations that one usually sees (tires on a travelling automobile, a compact disc playing music, or a draining sink), the rotation of the Earth is very small: only one rotation per day. The water in a sink might make a rotation in a few seconds and so have a rotation rate ten thousand times higher than that of the Earth. It should not be surprising, therefore, to learn that the Coriolis force is orders of magnitude smaller than any of the forces involved in these everyday spinning things. The Coriolis force is so small, that it plays no role in determining the direction of rotation of a draining sink anymore than it does the direction of a spinning CD. \n\nThe direction of rotation of a draining sink is determined by the way it was filled, or by vortices introduced while washing. The magnitude of these rotations may be small, but they are nevertheless gargantuan by comparison to the rotation of the Earth. I decided to include a picture of a draining sink, and the first one I tried in my house was found to drain clockwise (the opposite of what the silly assertions would have it do here in the northern hemisphere). This direction was determined entirely by the way the tap filled the sink. The direction of rotation of a draining toilet is determined by the way the water just under the rim is squirted into the bowl when it is flushed.<<\n\nI guess you'll just have to observe - I have made the water in kitchen sinks swirl the "wrong" way just for the heck of it, and it doesn't begin to immediately go the "right" way unless I act on it.
185952
a diode blocks current from flowing in a certain direction. current will flow from the non striped side to the striped side
241749
It depends on the toilet, not the hemisphere.\n\nYou are thinking of something called "the coriolis effect".  This is the effect which causes water to try to spin clockwise in the southern hemisphere and clounter-close wise in the northern hemisphere.  Although this effect is real, it has a negligible effect in everyday life, like in the draining of toilets.  Compared to other factors, the coriolis effect is extrememly weak and for all intensive purposes, does not influence the effect of water draining out of a toilet.
962570
It will flow in either direction if the voltage is above 0.7 volts
549724
It is downhill from start to mouth using sea level. However, there are rivers that do flow uphill at times. The continental divide is the reason for it. All water flows Easterly East of the continental divide. All water will flow Westerly West of the continental divide. I've been there and seen it, weird. \n\nAnother explanation would be the rotation of the earth. The water would be "pulled" toward the equator, where the largest mass of the earth's body would be.
353639
they do not turn clockwise....... clocwise is a term that was coined after the invention of a clock.......the inventor decided to make the hands move in the same direction as the sun dial of the past.....
227951
Contrary to legend, it depends on the sink - not the hemisphere. The Coriolis force (which makes large scale currents and weather patterns turn clockwise in the Northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the Southern hemisphere) is really too small to matter in a sink/toilet. The geometry of the sink and the motion of the water before you pull the plug plays a much larger role.
24112
The short answer is that toilets flush to the shape of the toilet - not because of northern or southern hemisphere location\n\nThe longer answer is that in theory it is possible that the "Coriolis effect" will change the the rotation of the flush. The Wikipedia link below has a detailed analysis. It can be abbreviated to "it's possible in an exact, scientific, controlled environment"
1073455
No, you've got it backwards, it flushes counter-clockwiswe above the equator, and clockwise below. Right on the equator should flush counter-clockwise as well.
282404
In the northern hemisphere the toilet bowl water circulates counterclockwise, and in the southern hemisphere it circulates clockwise.\nThe water in the toilet moves in the same manner as the air in a hurricane or tornado. The effect causing the rotation is the Coriolis effect, and is not a force, although it is sometimes referred to as a force.\n\nConsider the situation in the northern hemisphere.\n\nLiquids or gases nearer the equator are traveling faster as the earth turns than the liquids and gases nearer the poles, because everything nearer the equator must travel a longer linear distance each day to make the 360 degree rotation from west to east. If liquid/gas nearer the equator must head toward a target (low pressure) in the direction of the poles, it finds that the target is not traveling as fast west to east as it (liquid/gas) is traveling, and if it stays on its direct polar-bound route it will overshoot the target to the east (right on a map). To hit the target the liquid/gas must correct its flight and turn west (left) as it travels poleward. Such corrective action creates a curved path of travel which leads to circular flow. Liquid/gas poleward of the target (low pressure) is traveling west to east slower than the target (the diameter of the earth measured perpendicular to the earth rotation axis decreases as one moves toward the poles), and in its travel towards the equator, will undershoot the target to the west(the target moved faster). To reach the target from the pole side the liquid/gas must turn to the east in a curved path, and this leads to circular flow in the same counterclockwise direction as the liquid/gas coming from the other side of the target (low pressure).\n\nIn the southern hemisphere the case is the same, but because poleward bound and turning west means circling clockwise, as does equator-bound and turning east.\n\nNow in a toilet bowl the target and low pressure is the drain (a sink hole), so the drain operates the same as a hurricane. Ditto for the tornado.
65968
The water in the toilet is inside a "knee", basically an s-shaped combination of curved tubes. If the far side of the tube develops underpressure, some of the water will be pulled over into the far side, and water level will sink.\n\nPressure on the far side can oscillate. Usually the waste water system is connected to outside pressure via a separate chimney. On windy days, this chimney may act like a jet pump, reducing the inner pressure of the canalisation, so that water will be sucked into the falling side when the oscillation goes that way, lowering the water level.\n\nAnother possible source of oscillation are huge amounts of water flushed at once, moving down the tube pushing all the air below and leaving lower pressure above.\n\nBarometric pressure shouldn't really come into this, since canalisation and the open air are connected. However high or low the pressure, it ought to be the same inside the canalisation unless strong wind makes the chimneys act like jet pumps.\n\nNow, at which air pressures do you observe strong wind?
527755
Think of a small "U" shaped tube. Do you agree that if you pour water through either opening, the water level on either sides will be the same?\nThe "commode" is one of the sides of that "U" shape tube, the other side is inside the toilet. At a certain height (aproximately at 30% the height of the commode) this other side twists down and connects to the drain pipe of the toilet.\nSo the "U" actually would look like an inverted capital "N"\n\nWhen you flush the toilet, water goes into the commode. Since there is more water in the commode than in the inside of the toilet, water will move into the toilet, and down the drain pipe. It will continue to do so, until the water is at 30% of the height of the commode on either side of the "U".\n\nPercentages are just approximations. Hope this helps.
233535
i always thought it was because there was no humidity in the air...probably wrong, anyway. or maybe its because the warm climate doesnt allow the moisture to turn back into water. who knows? prob a weatherman.
579279
The Corolis effect will have no influence on a thing as small as a sink. The direction the water turns depends whether the water has a slight circular motion already due to filling. It also depends on the shape and direction of the drain.\nI live near the equator and I can assure you the water does not go straight down.
153241
No, the Coriolis force can have an effect on other things, but not water rotating in a toilet
597156
Coriolis effect\n\n\nThe Coriolis effect is an apparent deflection of a moving object in a rotating frame of reference. There are examples of this effect in everyday life, such as the direction of rotation of cyclones. Due to the effect, cyclones rotate counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. However, contrary to popular opinion, it has no noticeable effect on the rotation of water in draining sinks and toilets (see the toilets/bathtubs section below). The effect is named after Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis, a French scientist, who described it in 1835, though the mathematics appeared in the tidal equations of Laplace in 1778.