the annual geography quiz

[gh]

<<40. Alas, no. The Coriolis Effect, created by the Earth's rotation, causes hurricanes and ocean currents to rotate clockwise south of the equator and counterclockwise north of it, but sinks, bathtubs and swimming pools are far too small to be affected.>>


I've read this in various places too. But I swear, the first thing I did the first time I was in Oz was flush the toilet, and I sure remember its going the other way!

[Marlow]

<<40. Alas, no. The Coriolis Effect, created by the Earth's rotation, causes hurricanes and ocean currents to rotate clockwise south of the equator and counterclockwise north of it, but sinks, bathtubs and swimming pools are far too small to be affected.>>

I've read this in various places too. But I swear, the first thing I did the first time I was in Oz was flush the toilet, and I sure remember its going the other way!

Didn't know that either . . .

Because the Earth completes only one rotation per day, the Coriolis force is quite small, and its effects generally become noticeable only for motions occurring over large distances and long periods of time, such as large-scale movement of air in the atmosphere or water in the ocean.

[kuha]

<<40. Alas, no. The Coriolis Effect, created by the Earth's rotation, causes hurricanes and ocean currents to rotate clockwise south of the equator and counterclockwise north of it, but sinks, bathtubs and swimming pools are far too small to be affected.>>


I've read this in various places too. But I swear, the first thing I did the first time I was in Oz was flush the toilet, and I sure remember its going the other way!

DOH!

From our friend Wiki:

water rotation in home bathrooms under normal circumstances is not related to the Coriolis effect or to the rotation of the earth, and no consistent difference in rotation direction between toilets in the northern and southern hemispheres can be observed. The formation of a vortex over the plug hole may be explained by the conservation of angular momentum: The radius of rotation decreases as water approaches the plug hole so the rate of rotation increases, for the same reason that an ice skater's rate of spin increases as they pull their arms in. Any rotation around the plug hole that is initially present accelerates as water moves inward. Only if the water is so still that the effective rotation rate of the earth (once per day at the poles, once every 2 days at 30 degrees of latitude) is faster than that of the water relative to its container, and if externally applied torques (such as might be caused by flow over an uneven bottom surface) are small enough, the Coriolis effect may determine the direction of the vortex. Without such careful preparation, the Coriolis effect may be much smaller than various other influences on drain direction,[31] such as any residual rotation of the water[32] and the geometry of the container.[33] Despite this, the idea that toilets and bathtubs drain differently in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres has been popularized by several television programs, including The Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Australia" and The X-Files episode "Die Hand Die Verletzt".[34] Several science broadcasts and publications, including at least one college-level physics textbook, have also stated this.[35][36]

[gh]

<<39. Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii. Also, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa.>>

And a chunk of Indiana, I think.

'
Whoa! The true answer to this is brilliant! I can rememer when Indiana was a non-observer, but as of 2006 the whole state is. But...... There's a chunk of counties which obey state law, but simply operate in a different time zone! So Indiana remains split. Good data here:

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/indiana-time.html

[kuha]

<<39. Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii. Also, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa.>>

And a chunk of Indiana, I think.

'
Whoa! The true answer to this is brilliant! I can rememer when Indiana was a non-observer, but as of 2006 the whole state is. But...... There's a chunk of counties which obey state law, but simply operate in a different time zone! So Indiana remains split. Good data here:

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/indiana-time.html

Just trying to compensate for all the ignorance I've dumped on the other questions here.

[gh]

41. Which is larger in terms of square mileage - Asia or the surface of the moon?

[Daisy]

41. Which is larger in terms of square mileage - Asia or the surface of the moon?

I think I remember that the moon would just fit into the pacific ocean, and that in its own right is a large area, so I'd guess that the surface of the moon should be bigger than Asia.

[dukehjsteve]

<<39. Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii. Also, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa.>>

And a chunk of Indiana, I think.

No longer correct kuha. We went to statewide Daylight time ( at last ! ) about 6 years ago.

edit to add: oops, I see gh already has answered ( accurately ) on this issue.

[kuha]

<<39. Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii. Also, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa.>>

And a chunk of Indiana, I think.

No longer correct kuha. We went to statewide Daylight time ( at last ! ) about 6 years ago.

Well, if anyone would know, you would! I'll TRY to just shut up & keep my bushel baskets of misinformation to myself!

[Daisy]

Whoa! The true answer to this is brilliant! I can rememer when Indiana was a non-observer, but as of 2006 the whole state is. But...... There's a chunk of counties which obey state law, but simply operate in a different time zone! So Indiana remains split. Good data here:

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/indiana-time.html

Many parts of rural Indiana, predominantly farmers, oppose daylight saving time because their days are controlled by the sun instead of the clock. Some farmers believe that their productivity is at stake because they are missing one extra hour of sunlight in the morning.

May be I'm missundestanding their point here, but if they lose an hour of daylight in the morning they still have it at the end. So how could they possibly be less productive? Or are they slaves of the clock in someway I'm missing?

[dukehjsteve]

Area of the surface of a sphere is (4 (pi rr)) if that helps anyone,but w/o looking it up I don't know the diameter of the moon, and would only guess as to the length/width of Asia, an approximate rectangle.

[Conor Dary]

The earth has radius of 4000 miles. So using that formula and the fact that 70% is water we get all of the land on earth is ≃ 60318578 sq. miles.

The moon is 2000 miles, I believe, in diameter, so the surface area of the moon is ≃ 12566370 sq. miles.

So my guess is Asia has more area.

[gh]

<<41. Asia, which is a little over 17 million square miles, is larger than the surface of the moon, which is a bit under 15 million square miles.>>

But can you see the moon from the Great Wall Of China?

[DoubleRBar]

I think so.

[mump boy]

'
Whoa! The true answer to this is brilliant! I can rememer when Indiana was a non-observer, but as of 2006 the whole state is. But...... There's a chunk of counties which obey state law, but simply operate in a different time zone! So Indiana remains split. Good data here:

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/indiana-time.html

One of The West Wing's worst episodes was about this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J1NHzQ1sgc

http://westwing.bewarne.com/fourth/401hoursinam.html

[lonewolf]

Saw this story and thought of you and your quest, lonewolf -- http://www.statesman.com/news/news/stat ... rth/nTff5/

Thanks, gm.
My courthouse odyssey started in Texas with Eastland County, famous for "Old Rip", a horned toad imprisoned in the cornerstone of the original courthouse, discovered still alive many years later ( I would have to look up the exact number)
Also, Eastland is the oil field town where Conrad Hilton started his hotel chain.

I belong to a club whose members aspire to set foot in every county/parish/borough in the US but there is no requirement to photograph the courthouse. Several have completed the 3143 county bucket list.
I have visited 3133, photographing more than 3500 new and old courthouses, lacking 10 in Alaska, but only three of those have courthouses.

[gh]

42. What are the only two nations in South America that don't border Brazil?

[mcgato]

Chile is one of them, I'm pretty sure. I'm not sure about the other one. Maybe Columbia?

[gh]

Chile is correct.

[Pego]

I think it could be Ecuador.

[gh]

<<42. Ecuador and Chile.>>

[gh]

I love this one!

<<43. The Pentagon, the world's largest office building, has twice as many restrooms as a structure its size needs. Why?>>

(If it had been the Senate building, of course, the answer would be because most of the inhabitants are full of shit!)

[ed gee]

I think at one time they had bathrooms designated for "colored people" or whatever the appropriate term was at the time.

[kuha]

Separate for officers/enlisted men.....or military/civilian...?

[gh]

<<43. At the time of the Pentagon's construction in 1941-42, segregation laws in Virginia, where it is located, required separate bathrooms for whites and blacks. Signs identifying them as such were never put up, probably because President Franklin Roosevelt had banned discrimination in the federal government.>>

[gh]

44. The Italians call it Monte Cervino. What does almost everyone else call it?

[DoubleRBar]

I think it is the Matterhorn (not the one at Disneyland).

[gh]

<<44. The Matterhorn. The peak straddles the border between Switzerland and Italy, but is not nearly as distinctive looking on the latter side.>>

[gh]

45. The River Danube flows out of Germany's Black Forest and passes through or alongside 10 countries. What body of water does it empty into?

[dj]

45. The River Danube flows out of Germany's Black Forest and passes through or alongside 10 countries. What body of water does it empty into?

The Black Sea.

And that's Dah-NOOB, Alex.

[gh]

<<45. The Black Sea.>>

Sidebar: what 4 national capitals does it pass through?

[gh]

46. What city has been called the Manchester of Japan?

(and no, I don't think it has anything to do with a soccer club)

[Pego]

<<45. The Black Sea.>>

Sidebar: what 4 national capitals does it pass through?

Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade

[pakillo]

<<45. The Black Sea.>>

Sidebar: what 4 national capitals does it pass through?

Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade

Once that was a trick question in my geography class, though little different- what 4 "letter B" national capitals does it pass through (in my language Vienna begins with B).

[tandfman]

(in my language Vienna begins with B).

Igivup. What language is that?