OT Physics Quizz

[tartansailor]

You are the Captain of a 5 masted Schooner RENAISSANCE sailing between Halifax Nova Scotia to Montevideo Uruguay.
Your new bride Lucinda wishes to shower en route. Fresh hot water being scarce you time how long it takes to drain the shower barrel.
Off the coast of Portland ME at 45 degrees N you record the time and notice the water in the barrel rotating counter clockwise.
On the equator you do the same and notice that the water does not rotate as you time the drop. Off the coast of Uruguay at
45 degrees South again you time the drop only this time the water is rotating clockwise.
What are the differences in the recordings?
Dick

[Jim Walsh]

The Coriolis effect?

[tjr818]

There should be no difference in the time to drain, maybe a millisecond faster at the equator, but he would need a pretty good watch to catch that small difference.

[Farmer Wayne]

I think you have the direction of rotation incorrect? In the Northern hemisphere the rotation is clockwise and counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Here is an added bit of trivia, some plants follow the sun, heliotropism, clockwise in northern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Two that I can think of are Sunflower and Hops.

Farmer Wayne

[Joe Mac Phee]

It ain't physics, it is learning about marriage!

Off the coast of Maine, the shower was so cold that it did not last long enough to observe any rotation. Off the coast of Brazil it was so comfortable, the shower lasted so long that there was no water in the barrel to observe any rotation. Off the coast of Uruguay, the captain made the mistake of docking at Montevideo to get more water. His bride was so fed up with sailing, she went ashore to the nearest 5 star hotel to take a shower. She met a farmer from Buenos Aries and ran off with him. C'est la vie!!