Re: [Phys-l] Coriolis effect

[John Mallinckrodt <ajm@csupomona.edu>]

Sounds like you are misunderstanding the Coriolis force which does not "deflects winds to the west in the northern hemisphere." Rather, the Coriolis force deflects winds "to the right" in the northern hemisphere and "to the left" in the southern hemisphere.  (That is, in the the direction of the horizontal component of –omega x v.)  Thus, if air tries to moves inward from all directions toward a low pressure region in the northern hemisphere it is deflected into a counterclockwise spiral.

John Mallinckrodt
Cal Poly Pomona

On Nov 30, 2011, at 9:57 AM, Anthony Lapinski wrote:

> I know that the Earth spins eastward, which deflects winds to the west
> (clockwise) in the northern hemisphere and to the west (counterclockwise)
> in the southern hemisphere. However, hurricanes spin counterclockwise in
> the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. I don't
> fully comprehend this. Maybe it's more complicated than I think. Are there
> other forces at work here, or am I just missing/misunderstanding something?
>
> Just trying to explain this in "basic" terms to kids and possibly do a
> demo (e.g., using a marble and rotating turntable).
>
> Any ideas/activities would be much appreciated.
>
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