Saturday, July 14, 2012

Introduction and experiences from the first day.

Hi my name is Erdogan Olcay. I am from Turkey. This is hopefully my last course for master’s degree before I return to my job in Turkish Telecommunications Authority. The only thing I am experienced in about sea life is swimming. I do not know much about harbors or the sea creatures. So I think this course will be interesting and useful to learn about these.
The first day of the class was a little strange for me. First I was late, and found myself taking a quiz, in front of the blackboard where I have not been since my high school years. Then we were asked to go to the ladies’ restroom to observe the direction of water in the sink. It is the craziest thing that I was asked to do in all my educational life.  
I and my three team mates observed that the water drained clockwise although I was in the “counter clockwise photo” taken before we went to the restroom. It was a quick guess because I had no idea about this. But after reading the other posts and a quick research I learned about the “Coriolis Effect”.
There are claims that the water drains clockwise in northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in Southern hemisphere because of the Coriolis force. However some academics state that Coriolis force is not strong enough to effect the direction of the water in a sink. The surface conditions and the shape of the holes can be more effective factors in the direction of the water [1].
[1] Collins, G.P. (2009). Coriolis effect. Scientific American, 301(3), 76. Retrieved from Boston University Libraries Database.

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