Question

The surface current acted upon by the Coriolis effect is deflected to the ______ of the driving wind direction in the Northern Hemisphere and to the ______ in the Southern Hemisphere.

Answer 1

right and left

Consider a wind blowing north in the northern hemisphere

(with the earth rotating clockwise as one faces north)

As the wind goes north it must increase its angular speed in order that its angular momentum remain constant - thus it is deflected to the right

(technically F = -2 m (ω X v) which will give a deflection to the right)