Bathwater does NOT spin in different directions north and south of the equator. (Another “Brain Barnacle”)

“Fun Facts Saturday”

The Coriolis Force

Because of the rotation of the earth, hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate counter-clockwise, and similar tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere rotate clockwise.  This is called the Coriolis force.

I learned that, because of the Coriolis force, the water in toilets and bathtubs rotate is opposite directions in the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. I “learned wrong.”

The Coriolis force is negligible with small bodies of water. Toilets and bathtubs drain in a certain direction based solely on their structure and design.  

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“It ain’t so much the things that people don’t know that makes trouble in this world, as it is the things that people know that ain’t so.” — Mark Twain

*”Brain Barnacles” – A ship traveling through the seas picks up barnacles that slows it down and damages the hull. Likewise, as we sail through life, we pick up popular beliefs that are false. I call these, “Brain Barnacles.” Occasionally, we need to stop and scrape these “barnacles” off our brain.

(Sources: “Drain Spin Direction,” Scientific American, Jan. 28. 2001; “Which Way Will my Bathtub Drain?” Matthew Feinstein, UC Riverside, 2022; “Does water go down the drain counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere …?” Everyday Mysteries, Library of Congress.)

Hurricane or Cyclone?

(Website: http://www.londonedition.net)