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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/aero-coriolis-right

In the Northern Hemisphere, which way does the Coriolis effect bend moving air?

To the right. In the Southern Hemisphere it bends to the left.

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  1. To the right ✔
  2. To the left
  3. Straight up

Why: Because Earth spins, moving air does not travel in a straight line. It curves right in the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the Coriolis effect.

Huh, didn't know that: It is named for French mathematician Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis, who studied spinning things like waterwheels.

The dad joke
Why did the wind keep turning right? It never wanted to be left out.
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References

Answer: To the right. Because Earth spins, moving air does not travel in a straight line. It curves right in the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the Coriolis effect.

  1. NOAA National Ocean Service: The Coriolis Effect oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_currents/04currents1.html
    circulating air is deflected toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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