Who knew?!

 

Aside from you.

I didn't know that until about ten minutes ago.

 

I don't quite get the explanation. I'll have to find a site where they put more words so maybe my slow brain will get it. I don't understand the fact that the wind flows couterclockwise, therefore wind goes from west to east (that is clockwise, to me).

Wouldn't more words make it more confusing??

 

Counterclockwise goes left to right

???

When I go from 3 o'clock to 9 o' clock, counterclockwise (going through 12) I'm going from right (3) to left (9). Obviously I'm wrong, since everybody else seems to get it, but to me, couterclockwise is from right to left , thus East to West

 

???

 

When I go from 3 o'clock to 9 o' clock, counterclockwise (going through 12) I'm going from right (3) to left (9). Obviously I'm wrong, since everybody else seems to get it, but to me, couterclockwise is from right to left , thus East to West

Here are more words to better explain it.

 

Here are more words to better explain it.

Ah!

An air or water mass moving with speed subject only to the Coriolis force travels in a circular trajectory called an 'inertial circle'. Since the force is directed at right angles to the motion of the particle, it will move with a constant speed around a circle whose radius is given by:

where is the Coriolis parameter , introduced above (where is the latitude). The time taken for the mass to complete a full circle is therefore . The Coriolis parameter typically has a mid-latitude value of about 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹; hence for a typical atmospheric speed of 10 m/s (22 mph) the radius is 100 km (62 mi), with a period of about 17 hours. For an ocean current with a typical speed of 10 cm/s (0.22 mph), the radius of an inertial circle is 1 km (0.6 mi). These inertial circles are clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (where trajectories are bent to the right) and anticlockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

If the rotating system is a parabolic turntable, then is constant and the trajectories are exact circles. On a rotating planet, varies with latitude and the paths of particles do not form exact circles. Since the parameter varies as the sine of the latitude, the radius of the oscillations associated with a given speed are smallest at the poles (latitude = ±90°, and increase toward the equator.

 

Ah!

 

An air or water mass moving with speed subject only to the Coriolis force travels in a circular trajectory called an 'inertial circle'. Since the force is directed at right angles to the motion of the particle, it will move with a constant speed around a circle whose radius is given by:

where is the Coriolis parameter , introduced above (where is the latitude). The time taken for the mass to complete a full circle is therefore . The Coriolis parameter typically has a mid-latitude value of about 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹; hence for a typical atmospheric speed of 10 m/s (22 mph) the radius is 100 km (62 mi), with a period of about 17 hours. For an ocean current with a typical speed of 10 cm/s (0.22 mph), the radius of an inertial circle is 1 km (0.6 mi). These inertial circles are clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (where trajectories are bent to the right) and anticlockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

If the rotating system is a parabolic turntable, then is constant and the trajectories are exact circles. On a rotating planet, varies with latitude and the paths of particles do not form exact circles. Since the parameter varies as the sine of the latitude, the radius of the oscillations associated with a given speed are smallest at the poles (latitude = ±90°, and increase toward the equator.

WHY?? JUST WHY??

I now get the initial explanation, as long as I put the clock flat on my desk, with the needles facing upwards. Then, counterclockwise is from west to east. But if I put the needles facing downwards, it would be the opposite.

Who looks at a clock with the needles facing downward, though??  That isn't a clock, it's the mirror image of a clock.