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Is the Coriolis effect an ‘optical illusion’?
Author(s) -
Persson Anders
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.2477
Subject(s) - inertial frame of reference , centrifugal force , fictitious force , illusion , physics , gravitation , classical mechanics , mechanics , geodesy , geology , psychology , rotational speed , neuroscience
The difference between the derivations of the Coriolis effect on a rotating turntable and on the rotating Earth is discussed. In the latter case a real force, the component of the earth's gravitational attraction, non‐parallel to the local vertical, plays a central role by balancing the centrifugal force. That a real force is involved leaves open, not only the question on the inertial nature of the ‘inertial oscillations’, but also the way we tend to physically conceptualize the terrestrial Coriolis effect.