Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Coriolis effect


Coriolis effect

Imagine you’re on a merry-go-round and you want to pass a ball to someone opposite to you. Looking from above, the ball will travel in a straight line, but to you it will seem to curve in towards them.  This effect is called the ‘Coriolis effect’, and it explains why tropical storms always spin clockwise in the Southern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the Northern. 

Know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect
Gif via Wikimedia Commons
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10 comments:

  1. Glenn Phillips23 October 2013 at 10:31

    I love this effect. Good gif too.

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  2. John Hebert23 October 2013 at 10:37

    I've seen a few other animated gifs that explain various principles of mathematics well. Does anyone know of a collection of these?

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  3. Yossi Matias23 October 2013 at 11:13

    A nice illustration of Coriolis effect

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  4. Brian Perry23 October 2013 at 16:50

    Yes, very cool

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  5. Alan Tenore23 October 2013 at 19:52

    Ok, who wants to go out to a merry-go-round and try this out?

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  6. Amol Borkar23 October 2013 at 22:22

    nice...thank you!

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  7. Amol Borkar23 October 2013 at 22:23

    does anyone know how or where this is applied in practical life?

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  8. Glenn Phillips23 October 2013 at 22:29

    Anything ballistic that travels more than 20km to start. Anything travelling at high altitudes. Fly wheel energy storage devices.

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  9. Andrew Savage24 October 2013 at 01:00

    This reminds me of being young and asking my Dad why when I and throw a ball into the air and catch it, while running, the ball doesn't get left behind as I move. 

    He (physicist and engineer) looked proud that it had occurred to me :)

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  10. Sam Figarado24 October 2013 at 05:43

    So if you put another way, there is a straight line path for every object in motion?

    ReplyDelete