T o d d P a t t i s t wrote:

Pilots tend to think of Coriolis force as being in one
direction north of the equator, the opposite direction south
of the equator and zero at the equator (if they think of it
at all). However, it isn't zero at the equator, it's just
pointed straight up.

Is it pointed straight up or only affects objects moving straight up?
My engineering mechanics and physics classes were more than two decades
ago so I'm a little rusty, but I believe that coriolis
acceleration/force doesn't act straight up at the equator, but acts
perpendicular to the motion of an object moving up or down as opposed to
along the earth's surface. For example, assume a rod extending upward
at the equator, but normal to the earth's surface. Now put a metal
doughnut on the rod and then lift it upward several hundred feet. The
doughhut will be accelerated by a force from the rod that acts in a
direction normal to the rod as the doughnut has to move faster as it
gains altitude, right?


Matt