why do toilets flush clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere...???

Answer 1

A friend of mine went to Equador a few years ago and directly on the equator there was a touristy spot with lots of experiments you could perform yourself, like the draining of water from a sink. There were 3 sinks; one was 1 meter north of the equator, one was 1 meter south of the equator and the other was bang on the equator. The water drained in opposite directions in the northern and southern sinks and the sink that was on the equator the water just fell out with no spiraling at all.
Another interesting experiment there was an egg. On the equatorial line it would actually stand up straight! Whereas either side it would fall over!

Answer 2

I don't really know! Hey what's wrong with saying anti-clockwise, that's what we say.

Anyway! I found this:

Flushing an Urban Legend
The Coriolis Effect does not cause water to spiral down drains (or toilets) differently in the Northern & Southern Hemispheres.
The size of a sink, tub, or toilet bowl is too small compared to the size of the Earth.

Coriolis Effect is much smaller than other motions, like water jets or swirling the water with your hand.

Try it. Fill a sink with water, set the water it swirling clockwise and then pull the plug. Then do it again, this time swirling it counterclockwise before pulling the plug.

Sorry Bart (the clockwise flush fallacy was the premise of the Bart vs. Australia episode of The Simpsons).

So it was all made up on the Simpsons!! lol.

Answer 3

The standard answer is the Coriolis effect, the effect of the earth's rotation on moving objects. This is what causes hurricanes to rotate in a clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.

However, the Coriolis effect matters only on macro (i.e., big) masses. For water draining out of a bathtub, it amounts to about three ten-millionths of the force of gravity and would be overwhelmed by everything from the shape of the drain to the roughness of the tub.

In a toilet bowl, where the fast streams of water are controlled by the toilet design, its effect would be even more hidden than in a free draining tub.

In otherwords, it's a myth. Great for stories, but totally bogus. Try the experiment yourself with a few tubs or toilets. The water circles every which way even though you haven't changed hemispheres.

Answer 4

The Coriolis effect is more visible with unplugging a full bathtub or a full water basin. You will see it when the water is just about emptying. It does rotate anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere while it is clockwise rotation in the northern hemisphere.

It is the same phenomenon with a tropical cyclone in the southern hemisphere whose winds and cloud masses rotate anticlockwise . While in the northern hemisphere it rotates clockwise .

The Coriolis effect has to do with the rotation of the earth.

I don't know whether it occurs with toilets flush.

Answer 5

Water goes down plugholes in both directions in both hemispheres. The Coriolis effect is due to the rotation of the Earth which is one revolution per day. This influences everything moving over the planet but it is weak. Large weather systems such as highs and lows and even mesoscale systems such as thunderstorms and the sea breeze are affected by Coriolis but not small systems like dust devils and water going down plugholes. Movement of the water and the shape of the bowl have more influence on the direction of flow than Coriolis.

Water spirals on the equator where there is no Coriolis effect at all.

That being said, at high latitudes if you had a tank large enough and the water still enough and removed the plug very carefully so as not to disturb the water, you would find that there was a bias towards rotation in different directions in the different hemispheres. But in real life water goes down either way.

Answer 6

It does happen, but its all to do with the design of the toilet, some flush clockwise others flush anticlockwise. You can actually have an anticlockwise flushing toilet in the northern hemisphere.

Answer 7

It isnt the hemisphere the toilet is in! Its the toilet, bath or sink design that determines which way the water will flow into a drain or plug-hole. They've proved this on a few of the Myth Buster or science programs.

Answer 8

Counter-clockwise

Answer 9

You really have too much time on your hands. (And watches go clockwise, by the way!!!). There is really no logical answer, but as long as your waste is being disposed of, it shouldn't really matter.

Answer 10

They dont, its an urban myth and has been dis-proved on tv.