Tag Archives: water

Are You A Drain Detective?

TOILET

Have you ever been to the Southern Hemisphere? Maybe you’ve visited relatives in Australia or been on holidays in Thailand?

Did you see that the water spins down the drain differently to home?

No?

Well it does! In the Northern Hemisphere water goes down the drain counter clockwise, but in the Southern Hemisphere water washes down clockwise. Next time you’re near a sink watch the water swirl down the drain hole and see if you can tell which direction the water is going!

Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere toilets!

Why Does it Do This?

It is because of the Coriolis Effect, an effect French scientist Gaspard Gustav de Coriolis discovered. He found out that the earth’s rotation around the sun will make water go in different directions

Did you know?

It’s not just water that goes in opposite directions! If you were in outer space and looked at the earth from the Northern Hemisphere the world would be spinning counter clockwise, but if you looked at the world from the Southern Hemisphere it would be spinning clockwise! Wow!

Is the pencil magic?

pencil

Light can play tricks on your eyes! Here’s a fast and fun activity that you can do to trick your friends!

bent or straight?

What you’ll need:

- a pencil

- water

- a clear glass jar (like an empty pasta jar)

How to do it:

1) Fill half your glass jar with water

2) Place the pencil in the water

3) Look at the pencil from the top

4) Look at the pencil from the side

When you look at it from the top it looks straight but when you look at it from the side its bent!

Why does it do this?

Its the light playing tricks on your eyes! You see light travels through water slower than it travels through air. When the light hits the water it slows down making the pencil look bent, but when the light travels through air it speeds up making the pencil look straight!