ick up from your hotel in Kampala and transfer about 540km to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, located in the western part of Uganda. At this point of crossing the Equator, we make a stopover for photography and demonstration of the Coriolis effect in the respective hemisphere. In Mbarara town, we make a stopover for our lunch. Arrive later in the evening for dinner and overnight.
Uganda is among the 13 countries in the world where the equator passes through. Ascertaining this is easy by setting up the experiment. All you need is a jug with a hole at the bottom, an empty bowl, some water, and 2 floating pointer sticks.
Demonstrating the Coriolis Effect.
- We’re a few metres north of the supposed equator, steps beside the sign. Pour water into the funnel, water begins to rotate as it exits by the bottom and drops into the bucket, and put a match in the moving water. The sticks turn right { clockwise}. Well, we are in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Move a few metres to the other side of the sign, where it is supposed to be the Southern Hemisphere. Redo the same process. Puts the match in moving water, and… the match turns left {anticlockwise}… Wow, it will be true that the imaginary line passes more or less where the sign is placed.
Stand by the sign where, theoretically, the line of the equator is. Pours water, but… the water begins to come down with no movement, neither right nor left. Put the match in the water, and the match is stagnant!
