The Coriolis Effect

Curving paths on a turntable

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• In a rotating frame, moving objects appear deflected: the Coriolis effect.
• On Earth, deflection is to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern.
• It shapes hurricanes and winds, but not your sink.

Steps

1. Throwing on a merry-go-round
2. Watch it curve
3. Hurricanes
4. Earth’s spin rate
5. A small sideways push
6. An hour off course