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You are a bird flying heading south from Toronto for the winter to a warm beach in the northern hemisphere but you forgot to account for the Coriolis force! Where will you end up relative to your desired destination?

User Amras
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Final answer:

If a bird does not account for the Coriolis force while flying south from Toronto, it will end up west of its intended destination due to the deflection caused by Earth's rotation.

Step-by-step explanation:

If a bird forgets to account for the Coriolis force while flying south from Toronto, it will end up to the west of its desired destination. The Coriolis force causes moving objects in the Earth's Northern Hemisphere to deflect to the right of their intended path. This deflection is due to the rotation of the Earth. In terms of large-scale weather patterns, this is why hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate counter clockwise and those in the Southern Hemisphere rotate clockwise.

For example, if the bird aimed to reach a beach directly south of Toronto, the Coriolis effect would cause it to veer off course toward the west. Larger-scale motions like air currents are notably affected by this force, which is substantial enough to influence weather systems such as cyclones and anticyclones.

User Pete Carter
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