Coriolis Effect Question

Question

Would an airplane flying from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Chicago, IL appear to be deflected left or right as it flies?

And

Which way would a ship from Melbourne, Australia going to Santiago Chile be deflected? What about on its return trip to Melbourne?

Answer 1

Good question- let's look at the vocabulary words first:

1. Coriolis Effect- this is how the atmosphere is reacting to the earth's rotation
2. Deflection- in the northern hemisphere the deflection goes to the right and to the left in the southern hemisphere

Looking back at the questions:

1. Would an airplane flying from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Chicago, IL appear to be deflected left or right as it flies? This is the northern hemisphere so right.
2. Which way would a ship from Melbourne, Australia going to Santiago Chile be deflected? What about on its return trip to Melbourne? Southern Hemisphere so left.