When a toilet is flushed in Australia, does the flow of water go clockwise or counterclockwise?
462363
It only depends on the local position of the toilet.\nThe coriolis force is not involved here.
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.
292737
Water will spin in water ever way it is induced to spin.\nThe coriolis is effect is real, but it is extreamly weak and does not play a role in the way that water will flow down a drain or out of a toilet.  Water will spin whatever was it is induced to by the toilet nozzles pushing it.\nIt is not true that all toilets in the norther hemisphere spin one way and toilets in the southern hemisphere spin the other direction.
1122757
The answer is that water can go clockwise or counter-clockwise in either hemisphere. It's a myth that it only goes in one direction in either hemisphere.\n\n    Does water go down the drain counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere?\n\n\n    It all depends upon how the water was introduced and the geometric structure of the drain.\n\nOne can find both counterclockwise and clockwise flowing drains in both hemispheres. Some people would like you to believe that the Coriolis force affects the flow of water down the drain in sinks, bathtubs, or toilet bowls. Don’t believe them! The Coriolis force is simply too weak to affect such small bodies of water.\n\nIn his work “Sur les equations du movements relative des systems des corps” (1835) the French engineer Gaspard Gustav de Coriolis (1792-1843) first described this force. The Coriolis force is caused by the earth’s rotation. It responsible for air being pulled to the right (counterclockwise) in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left (clockwise) in the Southern Hemisphere. \n\nThe Coriolis Effect is the observed curved path of moving objects relative to the surface of the Earth. Hurricanes are good examples. They curve to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. What makes the hurricanes move in this way is the Coriolis force. \n\nWhat happens at the equator? The Coriolis force is too weak to operate on the moving air at the equator. This means that weather phenomena such as hurricanes are not observed at the equator, although they have been observed at 5 degrees above the equator. In fact, the Coriolis force pulls hurricanes away from the equator.\n\nFor a more detailed explanation of the Coriolis Force see Science World, http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/CoriolisForce.html \n\nRelated Web Sites \n"Getting around the Coriolis effect" - This paper provides a scientific explanation of the Coriolis effect complete with diagrams and examples. It was written by David J. Van Domelen, of the Ohio State University Department of Physics, Physics Education Research Group. \n\nDanish Wind Industry Association - The Coriolis Force\nThis Web site provides animated models of how the Coriolis Force works. \n\nBad Coriolis - The author of this Web site sets the record straight about the Coriolis Force. Presented are numerous cases where incorrect information was provided by reliable sources. Also included are Frequently Asked Questions. \nCoriolis Force - Included in this Web site, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is an explanation of the Coriolis Force and a video demonstrating the Force.\n\nFrom the website "Bad Coriolis":\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\n\n\n Is it possible to detect the Earth’s rotation in a draining sink?\n\nYes, but it is very difficult. Because the Coriolis force is so small, one must go to extraordinary lengths to detect it. But, it has been done. You cannot use an ordinary sink for it lacks the requisite circular symmetry: its oval shape and off-center drain render any results suspect. Those who have succeeded used a smooth pan of about one meter in diameter with a very small hole in the center. A stopper (which could be removed from below so as to not introduce any spurious motion
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.....
305100
That would be "counter-clockwise" not "anti-clockwise". Motor sports in Australia are generally run with the drivers turning right on ovals, so that's probably what you saw, unless you are referring to a road course.
1120541
When you fill it past the mark, it creates a siphon in the central column which drains the cup.\n\nYou can see a similar action in your toilet which is also based on the siphon. Pour a bucket of water into your toilet. When it reaches a certain level, it the bowl will drain itself to the point where the siphon is broken by the low water level.\n\nWith the Pythagorus cup, the opening to the siphon is at the bottom, so the cup almost completely drains.
356220
Depends on your point of view. If you're hovering above the North pole, the earth rotates counter-clockwise. If you're hovering above the South pole, it rotates clockwise.
70464
The direction of the draining water is determined by the direction of the new water coming from under the rim of the bowl. The force pushes it into that circle.
884822
more people need to learn this.... after you drop a #2 you flush the toilet as to not stink up the restroom, as a courtesy to the next person. then proceed to wipe and flush again.
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.
730145
Yes\nIn the northern hemisphere propellers must rotate clockwise and in the southern hemisphere counter clockwise, reversing the direction causes the plane to fly backwards.\n\nThis is known as Coriolis force.\n\nIf a plane travelled from Wellington New Zealand to London (roughly opposite points of the globe) a passenger will notice that their money is worth less, conversely if a passenger travelled from London to Wellington they would notice their money is worth more, this is due to the principle of the conservation of energy.
403844
radon360 is correct, dont listen to the others.\n\nThe way water drains just depends on which way you pour it down.\n\nIf toilets flush the other way in australia it is entirely due to australian toilet manufacturers or some sort of australian plumber conspiracy.
223771
This is not true, but widely circulated as fact.\n\nI quote verbatim from snopes:\n\n"Because  \n\n   the Earth is a globe spinning on an invisible axis, a point at its equator will make a circuit of 25,000 miles in the space of a day, but any point not on the equator will make a shorter round trip; the closer that point is to either of the poles, the shorter its trip will be. Put another way, a pencil     at the equator travels 1,030 miles an hour, whereas another at Sarasota, Florida, moves at 930 miles per hour, and one at the North pole doesn't move at all. \n\n This apparent difference in speed results in the Coriolis force, an effect that imparts a twist to largish events happening away from the equator. Best known is its effect on air masses: as they move away from the equator, their speed (which matches that of where they started from) appears to be faster than that of the surface over which they are traveling. This sets them turning in a clockwise twist in the northern hemisphere and a counterclockwise twist in the southern. (Before you complain we have that backwards, please click here.)  Likewise, a cannonball fired due north will veer a teeny bit to the east, and one fired to the south will deflect ever so slightly to the west, something a skilled gunner would make an adjustment for. \n\n The twisting effect of the Coriolis force is real and does influence certain large things like the movement of air masses, but the effect is so small that it plays no role in determining the direction in which water rotates as it exits from a draining sink or toilet. The Coriolis effect produces a measurable effect over huge distances and long periods of time, neither of which applies to your bathroom. Toilets and sinks drain in the directions they do because of the way water is directed into them or pulled from them. If water enters in a swirling motion (as it does when a toilet is flushed, for example), the water will exit in that same swirling pattern; as well, most basins have irregular surfaces and are not perfectly level, factors which influence the direction in which water spirals down their drains. The configuration of taps and drains is responsible for the direction of spin given to water draining from sinks and bathtubs to a degree that overwhelms the slight influence of the Coriolis force. \n\n The belief that the Coriolis force influences the direction in which water drains from plumbing fixtures is widespread and has been repeated as fact in a number of venues, including popular television shows (such as world traveler Michael Palin's Pole to Pole) and even in textbooks.  We can only speculate on why people are so enamored of this snippet of misinformation, guessing that it has something to do with the desire to find some of the mysteries of science in the realm of the everyday. "
719363
Yes, it's true. Think about it.....you have a fluid that is on a rotating sphere. If you take this fluid and move it from the upper portion of the rotating sphere to the lower part, don't you think something has to change?\n\nGranted, the dynamics are extremely subtle but the effect is there. There are a lot of various forces at work due to the rotation of the earth. Performing the experiment is very difficult because any aberrations in the fluid causes error or doubt about what mechanism is actually causing the spiraling fluid flow.\n\nTake a clear bowl of water and stir it so it rotates.....then lift it up and look at it from underneath. It rotates in the opposite direction.....right? That's similar to what's going on, except the forces on the water are what causes the change in rotation. You are in essence turning the bowl upside down when you move it from one hemisphere to another.\n\nSimplified explanation, but sufficient I suppose. Hope it helps.\n\n:)
424906
Usually when the waste pipe goes outside the building there is a T piece, one branch travels downwards towards the sewer network, the other heads to the roof for natural ventilation and to ease pressure build up. So when the wind blows across the top of the open vent it will slightly affect the level of water in your toilet bowl through pressure displacement.
668041
Large scale flows depend on the Coriolis effect, which make the motion turn differently in each hemisphere. Therefore cyclones, hurricanes (though they are rare in southern hemisphere) and such events turn clockwise in the southern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere. As the spatial scale diminishes, the Coriolis effect loses importance. For tornadoes, for instance, it is still sufficient to make 98% of them to turn clockwise in the southern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere. But, in 2% of the cases they turn differently.\nDust devils are small enough so that they can turn either way, independently of hemisphere.\nOf course, the water flowing down your sink is a very small-scale process. Coriolis effect makes no difference in that case.\nTherefore, it can go either way, both in Australia and in North America, depending only on the sink geometry.