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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Hope this one hasn't been discussed...I'm in a bit of a hurry and wanted to post this before going to school. I was talking to a friend about the southern hemisphere, of which I know nothing, and mentioned the old factoid about the water in the toilets moving in the opposite direction of the water in the northern hemisphere. So, I googled something like "toilet Southern hemisphere" and found a lot of information on the Coriolis Effect. The effect can't occur over small areas, e.g., toilet bowls, but my question is what are the applications of where the effect actually does occur? Are there tornadoes in the southern hemisphere? Here's one pasting of something read last night:
Fred W. Decker, professor emeritus of oceanic and atmospheric science at Oregon State University notes, however, that the Coriolis effect may actually have little to do with the behavior of real-world sinks and tubs...
Just wondering,
Rub-a-DubDub
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Dunno if it's YART or not, but I have more info than you'll EVER need on this one! Tornadoes and other such things (like ocean circulation) rotate one way in the NH (= oceanographer-ese for Northenr Hemisphere) and t'other way in the SH. Easy weather application: Wind blows counterclockwsie around a low pressure system in the NH.Take any weather map showing pressure contour lines, and look at it. A good first estimate of wind velocity and direction can be made by looking at the contour lines. The wind blows ALONG the contour lines (direction determined by whether you have a high or low pressure system) and the strength can be estimated by how close the contour lines are closer together (PM me for a formula if you REALLY want to know!). If the lines are very close together, you have a strong wind - farther apart, a weaker wind. Try it - find yourself a contour map of the atmospheric pressure in your part of the US right now and figure out which way the wind "should" be blowing (remember, CCW around low pressure and thus CW around high pressure) and then check the weather report to see if you're right! (There are other factors involved, especially geographic things like hills, mountains, etc., so it doesn't always work out perfectly.) Any SH readers should turn that around - it would be CW around a low-pressure system, and CCW around a high-pressure system. Anyway, like I said, ocean circulation follows the same sorts of rules. In oceanography (and presumably atmospheric science) we use "cyclonic" (= low-pressure in the centre) and "anticyclonic" (= high-pressure in the centre) to remove the hemispherical ambiguity. That is, if you know your physics, you can always figure out the actual direction if someone says "cyclone in the NH" for example. I like the quote in my oceanography book "However, the observer in the southern hemisphere is upside-down relative to the observer in the norther hemisphere and he calls the motion anticlockwise...It is a matter of point of view." 
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
so sucks to you, Max, CapK, stales, and all the others
Not to mention that even tornadoes are small scale when viewed from the consideration of the Coriolis Effect.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Posts: 200 |
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Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Went to a party with old Coriolis and the outcome was that while I didn't drink anything I came out feeling dizzy. He has that effect on people. I think I was dizzy anti-clockwise. But then the old blowhard was always something of a spin doctor!
Heard tell of the Roaring Forties? Nice nightclub in rain-sodden downtown Okarito, population -2. Never really stops. Kinda blows you away, it really does.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
I'd like to apologize for posting "Coriolus Effect" on Q&A, but I didn't know where else to post it.
I'm trying to understand the meaning of the term, so I figured Q&A would be the place. Didn't think Miscellany would be it since it's not about coining or anything like that.
And it shurr didn't seem to be a place for Wordplay.
Without anywhere else to go, I figured, "To understand correct applications of the said effect, pose the question on Q&A."
Not meaning to rock the boat, clockwise or otherwise,
WordWind
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
No worries my dear WordWind, we will make it into a word post yet! I have some favourite oceanography words which I've collected over the last couple of years. Just to be mean I will post them without definitions for now (I am supposed to be working after all) and you guys can all discuss them! Advect (or advection) Bathymetry Drogue Eddy Fetch Seiche Sill Swell Thermocline Turbid (or turbidity) Vorticity Doldrums Fjord TTFN!
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Another great ocean word, oft misunderstood, is (tada!):
Ground
And some others:
Surges
Tidal Waves
tsunami
Edited out the "s" and replaced with "n"--thanks, Faldage!
Riptide
Ebbtide
Surf
Tide pools
Undertow
Beached regards,
WordWave
PS: How do you spell "tsusami"? Can't figure it out. tsunami
...got it, Faldage!
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