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HETAV PATEL

Grade 11,

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Suppose that you are standing on the balcony of a tall tower, facing east. You drop an object so that it falls to the ground below; see Fig. Suppose also that you can locate the impact point very precisely. Will the object strike the ground at a, vertically below the release point, at b to the east, or at c to the west? The object was released from rest; the Earth rotates from west to east.

Suppose that you are standing on the balcony of a tall tower, facing east. You drop an object so that it falls to the ground below; see Fig. Suppose also that you can locate the impact point very precisely. Will the object strike the ground at a, vertically below the release point, at b to the east, or at c to the west? The object was released from rest; the Earth rotates from west to east.

Grade:11

1 Answers

Kevin Nash
askIITians Faculty 332 Points
8 years ago
If one assumes that the factor by which the Earth rotates is negligible during the time the object takes to reach the ground, then the object will hit the ground at point a and one will not have to concern about the Coriolis Effect.
In case the factor is non-negligible, and the Earth moves from West to East, the object will hit the ground at point c. The situation is similar to the perceived leftward displacement of the air moving to a low pressure point from north to south. To the person standing on the balcony of a tall tower, a psuedoforce has acted on the object in a direction from east to west.

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