The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
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The Coriolis force is not really a force in the true sense, but the effect of the Earth's rotation on the circulation of air and water at or near the Earth's surface.
This apparent force was first observed by French physicist Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis (1792-1843) in 1835. The Earth's rotational speed decreases with latitude, from about 1,038 miles per hour (1,670 kph) at the Equator to zero at the poles. Anything traveling above the ground at a constant speed toward the poles appears to veer to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
This effect creates the circular motions of winds and ocean currents and can result in the development of hurricanes and tornadoes. It also affects any object that is launched or shot from the Earth's surface. An artillery shell, for instance, will miss its intended target if the Coriolis force is not taken into account, and the error will increase with distance.
Gustave de Coriolis spent most of his life in Paris. His interest in the effect of the Earth's rotation came while he was a professor of mechanics at the Ecole Polytechnique. He arrived at his conclusions mathematically, calculating the distance any point on the Earth must travel during a 24-hour period. He then did physical demonstrations of the effect this had on atmospheric and oceanic movements.
Twenty years later, American physicist William Ferrel quantified this principle in what was to become known as Ferrel's law.