Some people will have observed water flowing down a drain clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere but if you fill a bathtub with water at the equator how does it go down the drain?

gmackematix

The primary influence on how water goes down the plughole is how it was filled, how the water moved since and how it was disturbed when the plug was pulled. Water can swirl either way anywhere and the whole Northern/Southern Hemisphere idea is a myth. So the answer to the question is: it swirls the same way as it would anywhere else (but around a different axis of course!). Dec 19 03, 1:36 AM

Gnomon

The direction of the water flow has nothing to do with which hemisphere you are in. Dec 19 03, 2:22 AM

lothruin

The Coriolis effect is what causes phenomena such as hurricanes to swirl clockwise in the Southern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern hemisphere. With respect to a drain, the Coriolis effect is very slight, and as gmack said, water will drain in any direction depending on how the basin was filled, the shape of the drain, etc. However, if the basin is allowed to sit for more than several hours, the Coriolis effect will start to... take effect. A study conducted in 1962 indicated that if a basin were filled and covered and let sit for 24 hours or more, the Coriolis effect almost certainly would effect the draining of the basin. Most people, I would hope, would not leave their bathtub sitting for over a day. As to the original question, even if the Coriolis effect is in effect, the fact is there is no real equator. What I mean is, there is no space where you are neither in the northern nor southern hemisphere. It would be highly unlikely that the drain be placed with exactly half in the northern and half in the southern hemispheres, and the balance of one over the other would effect the way the water drained. Dec 19 03, 9:45 AM

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