How Does the Coriolis Effect Influence Water Drainage in a Sink?

[JoeyStorm]

Homework Statement

Its a 3 part question but i think I already got the first 2 parts.

The first part was asking us to find the angular velocity of the spinning earth.
The second part was asking us to estimate the velocity of water moving horizontally in a sink as it drains. Using that we find the acceleration.

The third part is asking what the distance would the water be deflected to the right at this rate of acceleration across the size of the sink. Is this also enough to force the water to drain in a counterclockwise sense?

Homework Equations

w = delta theta/delta time to find the angular velocity
F = -2mwv to find the acceleration

But I'm stuck on what formula to use for part 3.

The Attempt at a Solution

Part 1: w = 2pie/(24x60x60) = 7.27x10^-5
Part 2: a = -2wv using w from part 1 and v I estimated at 0.04 m/s
Part 3: stuck =/

Any help is appreciated.. thanks!

 

[JoeyStorm]

anyonee?

 

[baba89]

The Coriolis effect is a phenomenon that is caused by the rotation of the Earth. As the Earth spins, any object moving on its surface is affected by a force known as the Coriolis force. This force is responsible for the deflection of objects moving on the Earth's surface, including water in a sink.

To answer the third part of the question, we can use the formula for the Coriolis force: F = -2mwv, where m is the mass of the water, w is the angular velocity of the Earth, and v is the velocity of the water. We can also use the equation a = F/m to calculate the acceleration of the water.

Since we already calculated the angular velocity and estimated the velocity of the water in the second part, we can plug those values into the formula to find the acceleration of the water. Once we have the acceleration, we can use the equations of motion to determine the distance the water would be deflected to the right.

Whether or not this is enough to force the water to drain in a counterclockwise sense depends on the initial conditions and other factors such as the shape of the sink and the direction of the water flow. However, the Coriolis effect does play a role in the direction of water flow in sinks and other bodies of water on the Earth's surface.