Water down the drain - Which Way

Ok this is pure curiosity. My Mum's been asking me for the last 5 years which way the water goes down the sink in Japan/northern hemisphere and I've never looked until last night.

It goes down clockwise.

Your turn . . . which direction does your water go down?

It's always clockwise in the Northern hemisphere, anti-clockwise in th e Southern.

My friend in NZ just checked her sink and the water went down clockwise???

I just double checked and here goes the results...

OK

the handbasin water in the toilet goes down anti
the shower water goes down clockwise

I live in a confused house

I am in the southern hemisphere.

The water went down clockwise. I even went to the bathroom to check.

Well, I googled this question and here's what I came up with...

The twisting effect of the Coriolis force is real and does influence certain large things like the movement of air masses, but the effect is so small that it plays no role in determining the direction in which water rotates as it exits from a draining sink or toilet. The Coriolis effect produces a measurable effect over huge distances and long periods of time, neither of which applies to your bathroom. Toilets and sinks drain in the directions they do because of the way water is directed into them or pulled from them. If water enters in a swirling motion (as it does when a toilet is flushed, for example), the water will exit in that same swirling pattern; as well, most basins have irregular surfaces and are not perfectly level, factors which influence the direction in which water spirals down their drains. The configuration of taps and drains is responsible for the direction of spin given to water draining from sinks and bathtubs to a degree that overwhelms the slight influence of the Coriolis force.

Still curious about your house though...

I voted "don't know" because, I don't!

As was explained, outside forces notwithstanding, the coriolis effect states that air and water masses in the northern hemisphere will rotate ccw and below the equator, cw.

A further phenomenon of the coriolis effect is on human nature and the comfort level of turning either left or right, and in the north, to the left is a more comfortable turn than to the right, and just the opposite in the south, and this applies whether walking, flying, driving, swimming or what.

Leonard

anti-clockwise in the northern, clockwise in the southern... or vice-versa, I forget which, but if you stand on the equator, it doesn't spin

i love this! i have never heard of anit-clockwise...just counter-clockwise

Originally Posted by winwin

As was explained, outside forces notwithstanding, the coriolis effect states that air and water masses in the northern hemisphere will rotate ccw and below the equator, cw.

A further phenomenon of the coriolis effect is on human nature and the comfort level of turning either left or right, and in the north, to the left is a more comfortable turn than to the right, and just the opposite in the south, and this applies whether walking, flying, driving, swimming or what.

Leonard

Click to expand...

Are there more lefties in the North, than in the South?
What if you are right-handed, but left eye dominant?
What if you are a left handed artist, do you draw on the right hand side of the brain if you are in the Southern hemisphere, or..wait a minute..Right handed artist, drawing with the left hand side..or is that the right hand side for artists..Ahhh, nevermind!
Just bein silly, Leonard, don't mind me..

hehehe natural artists tend to be left-handers because it's the right hand side of the brain that is centred around creativity and inspiration. The right hand brain controls the left side of the body and vice-versa. mathematicians and scientists are dominantly right handed people. If the coreolis effect influenced the brain the way it does water, we'd all be dizzy!

I didn't know, so I had to go flush my potty. I learned something new today, our potty swirls counter clockwise. Too funny, I never paid attention to that.

I didn't know what to answer. My sink at home goes clockwise, but I'm in a hotel in Washington state just now and it goes counter-clockwise here.

I have no clue. Next time I'll check it out!

Originally Posted by jennyranson

It's always clockwise in the Northern hemisphere, anti-clockwise in th e Southern.

Click to expand...

I chose other since both wasnt an option

Originally Posted by Ginger's Mum

I just double checked and here goes the results...

OK

the handbasin water in the toilet goes down anti
the shower water goes down clockwise

I live in a confused house

Click to expand...

Me too!

Me-N-My, always more questions than there are answers, right ? ?

Leonard

I don't know!

Originally Posted by Ginger's Mum

Ok this is pure curiosity. My Mum's been asking me for the last 5 years which way the water goes down the sink in Japan/northern hemisphere and I've never looked until last night.

It goes down clockwise.

Your turn . . . which direction does your water go down?

Click to expand...

I'll be!!!! I thought it just went straight down!