Is it true?

Question

Is it true that the direction toilets (or any drain for that matter) flush water in opposite directions at opposite hemispheres of the Earth? How about in the equator?In which direction does water drain there?

Answer 1

This may help...

A popular misconception is that the Coriolis effect determines the direction in which bathtubs or toilets drain, and that water always drains in one direction in the Northern Hemisphere, and in the other direction in the Southern Hemisphere. This myth has perhaps been perpetuated by the Simpsons episode "Bart Vs. Australia," in which protagonist Bart Simpson has a young Australian boy confirm that his toilet water in the Southern Hemisphere spins in the opposite direction from Bart's own in the Northern Hemisphere. The myth is also propagated by the plethora of websites claiming that this fallacy is true. Strangely, many of these sites claim that drain water spins clockwise north of the equator, and counterclockwise south of it, which is reversed from direction of spin that would result from the Coriolis force, if it were a determining factor.

In reality, the Coriolis effect is a few orders of magnitude smaller than various random influences on drain direction, such as the geometry of the sink, toilet, or tub, and the direction in which water was initially added to it. Most toilets flush in only one direction, because the toilet water flows into the bowl at an angle. If you shot water into the toilet basin from the opposite direction, the water would spin in the opposite direction[2].

This is less of a puzzle once one remembers that the Earth rotates once per day but that a bathtub takes only minutes (and a toilet only seconds) to drain. When the water is being drawn towards the drain, the radius with which it is spinning around it decreases, so its rate of rotation increases from the low background level to a noticeable spin in order to conserve its angular momentum (the same effect as ice skaters bringing their arms in to cause them to spin faster).

Gotta love wikipedia!

Answer 2

Yes it is true, i phoned this guy in Korea and tell me which way the toilet is flushing. In New Zealand is the opposite. i think it just goes down on the equator.

Answer 3

Having spent time in both the northern and southern hemispheres, I can tell you that it spins backward south of the equator. I dont know why.

Answer 4

it's a myth and anyone who says otherwise is full of crap and needs to stop watching Simpsons

The Coriolis Effect takes place in nature, not in a toilet bowl, and it flows the same direction in both hemispheres

Answer 5

Yes, in the equator it goes straight down.

Answer 6

I justed tested it here in Western Australia and it went anticlockwise... Which way does it go up in the NH?

Answer 7

Yes, it is true. Because of the magnetic field and the rotation of the earth.

Not sure about the equator.

Answer 8

1/2 -genuine !!! it truly is common to fall in love yet to stay in love is amazingly particular. there is one second in existence once you're with someone. And experience like the global has stopped and your existence looks suitable, ensure you in no way lose that man or woman ...... is this genuine love ?????

Answer 9

The second answer is correct

http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.asp

Answer 10

yes,cw here cc there,on the equator,it just kinda lays there,and goes down.