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Water flows in both directions regardless of hemisphere.

In Physics, there is the Coriolis Effect that describes the flow/movement of water due to a variety of factors, and this is sometimes used to add validity to the myth, but the Coriolis Effect does not occur in small bodies of water such as a sink or toilet. The direction of water flow in a a sink or toilet depends on the direction that the water flows into the sink or toilet -- regardless of hemisphere.

You can test this yourself by pouring a pitcher of water from the left side of a sink and then from the right side, you will see that the water will flow accordingly -- this experiment will have the same result in Sydney, Australia as it will in London, England.

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Q: Why does water flow down a drain the opposite direction in the Southern hemisphere?
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Which way does water drain in the southern hemisphere?

At some point, most of us have heard that water spins down a drain in different directions depending on which hemisphere we happen to be in. The fact is, the Coriolis force (an apparent force as a result of the Earth's spin) has virtually nothing to do with which direction water spins as it empties down a drain. Although this force is "real" and does have an affect on other large, long lived systems that travel great distances (such as hurricanes, high and low pressure systems, and long range artillery shells), water draining from toilets, sinks, and bathtubs are rendered virtually immune from its affects. The Coriolis force is much too weak to have any affect on such small, short lived rotating bodies of water under normal conditions.


How can a subterranean river passage have water flowing in opposite directions?

How about with a drain underneath the "meeting point" of the onflowing waters?


Do tornadoes spin clock wise or counter clock wise?

It depends on the hemisphere of the Earth that the tornadoes are in. In the Northern Hemisphere, like all low pressure systems they spin anticlockwise. However, in the Southern Hemisphere they spin clockwise. This change of spin is due to the Coriolis effect. Similar to water down a drain. Tornadoes are a very localised low pressure system in extemis. Of slightly higher eye pressure are hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, and willy willy's. Hurricanes ; Carribean/USA Typhoons ; South China Sea. Cyclones ; Bay of Bengal. Willy Willy's ; Australia ( An aboriginal name). These atmospheris phenomina occur elsewhere in world, notable Brazil, and South East Africa., but they do not carry a name. Of slightly higher central eye pressure again are normal atmosphereic depressions. The anitcyclones are regions of the highest pressure of all.


Why is sodium hydroxide used as a drain cleaner?

why is sodium hydroxide usea as drain cleaners


What is the gradient of a drain?

Undefined.

Related questions

Why do water in the southern hemisphere turn clockwise down the drain and anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere?

it has nothing to do with the hemispheres, it depends on the shape of the drain. It can go either direction in both hemispheres


Why water sinks in antyclock wise direction in northen hemispear?

It is a thing called the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect is an observed reversal in spin of "things" like water, storm systems, etc. (Toilets in the Northern Hemisphere spin in the opposite direction of those in the Southern) To better understand this effect, observe global weather patterns. High and Low pressure systems in the Northern hemisphere spin Clockwise and Counterclockwise, respectively. It is the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, because of Earth's direction of rotation. This is the Coriolis Effect.


How do the air currents in the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere differ?

N. Hemisphere - winds primarily go west to east, and low pressure systems (like hurricanes/tornados) spin counterclockwise (like your drain in your toilet or sink). S. Hemisphere is all the opposite.


Which direction does water flow down the drain?

Water is more affected by the surface geometry of the fixture than the hemisphere. Snopes gives a nicely detailed explanation at the link below of the urban legend that claims drains drain opposite on different sides of the equator.


Does water drains backwards in the southern hemisphere?

No. Not only is the Earth's rotation too weak to affect the direction of water flowing in a drain, tests you can easily perform in a few washrooms will show that water whirlpools both ways depending on the sink's structure, not the hemisphere.


Does water at the equator in a sink just drop down the drain with no turning?

Yes, but you can cause it to turn in either direction by stirring the water. Then it will continue to turn on its own. You can also force the water to turn in the opposite direction in either hemisphere by doing the same thing.


How do you say joy in Australian?

"Joy", is pronounced exactly the same in Australia as it is in North America and other English speaking nations. However, in Australia (as in New Zealand), since they are in the Southern Hemisphere, joy circles the drain in a counter-clockwise direction rather than clockwise, as it does in the Northern Hemisphere. This should not affect your experience, even if you thrust your joy straight down the drain thus obviating the intervention of the laws of physics.


Why does water drain differently in different parts of the world?

There's a theoretical reason why, in a perfect container with perfectly still water, the water would circle the drain in different directions in the northern vs the southern hemisphere. How ever this effect (called the Coriolis effect) is quite small and minor differences in drains and currents in the water probably have a greater influence on the direction of circling the drain.


Which direction does the sink water spin on the equator?

Water will go down a drain in any direction, depending on any previous rotation the water may have had, as well as the shape of the container and any angle of the bottom of the tub or basin. The Coriolis Effect, which determines actual and apparent spin, is a right turn (drain counter-clockwise) in the northern hemisphere and left turn (drain clockwise) in the southern hemisphere, but is a weak influence compared to the other factors that can influence the direction of spin.


Which way does water go down a drain?

Contrary to popular belief, the water is not affected by the motion of the Earth, or by which hemisphere the bowl is in.Water drains in a downward direction. How water goes down the plughole is determined by the state of the water when the plug is pulled, the construction of the bowl, and the shape and size of the plughole. It doesn't always go the same way. The vortex direction is dependent on small local factors, and the slightest impulse (motion, temperature) makes it unpredictably random.On a larger scale, the airflow into cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere is counter-clockwise, and in the Southern hemisphere clockwise. So if the Coriolis effect were the dominant factor, that would be the direction of the draining.


What is the opposite of faucet?

drain


Which way does it drain in northern hemisphere?

Counter clockwise.