Coriolis Effect

Welcome to the Leverguns.Com Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here ... politely.

Moderators: AmBraCol, Hobie

Forum rules
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.

Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
AJMD429
Posting leader...
Posts: 31933
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:03 am
Location: Hoosierland
Contact:

Coriolis Effect

Post by AJMD429 »

Whenever I'm shoting an accurate, scoped, gun off a rest, and miss the 100 yard bullseye by more than a couple feet, I know it obviously can't be ME, so I usually blame the Coriolis effect (you know, the same effect the 1,000 yard shooters know will throw them off a half inch or so :wink: ).

But.....can I blame it if I'm shooting straight East or straight West...?

I get that if I'm shooting North, the bullet is being propelled northward, but also is going to the right around 1,000 miles per hour due to earth rotation, as if it is in a very-near-earth orbit. So if it travels for a whole minute, it would go 1000/60=16.6667 miles to the east in addition to its northward travel of 20 miles or so (assuming a really, really good ballistic coefficient.... :D ) but by then will be closer to the earth's axis, at a part of the earth maybe only travelling 999.9 mph to the east, so the earth under my bullet will only have travelled 99.9/60=16.6650 miles, and I'll be 0.0017 miles or about 9 feet off.

(...I know the numbers may be off but you get the idea...)

So if I do the same thing shooting to the South, the part of the earth I'm on may be the 999.9 mph part, and I'm shooting towards the 1,000 mph part, so it will move farther eastward than the bullet, making the bullet appear to beer right again, this time westward.

And if course all the opposite if I'm south of the equator.

But.....two questions for long-range competitors:

1. What, if any, effect happens if shooting straight East or west, and if there is an effect, why...?

2. Minimal effect would seem to exist near the equator, where 1,000 vs 999.9 mph may be the case, but if you were near the north pole, say about 3.8 miles out, so the circumference there was 24 miles, your eastward motion would only be one mile per hour, yet at 1.9 miles from the pole, only half that. A much larger difference, but much smaller numbers; do the effects of latitude cancel out, or must the long range shooter take into account latitude as well as (or not) compass direction.

Inquiring minds want to know...

Besides, like I said I plan to use all this as excuses next time I'm at the range.... :lol:
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws
"first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.


Want REAL change? . . . . . "Boortz/Nugent in 2012 . . . ! "
piller
Posting leader...
Posts: 15188
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:49 pm
Location: South of Dallas

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by piller »

When shooting East with one of those new rifles using depleted Uranium rounds moving about 142,000 miles per second, you would need to put the target behind you.
D. Brian Casady
Quid Llatine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur.
Advanced is being able to do the basics while your leg is on fire---Bill Jeans
Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up---Robert Frost
User avatar
Blaine
Posting leader...
Posts: 30495
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:22 pm
Location: Still Deciding

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by Blaine »

Judas Priest, Doc...go tumble some brass or something... :lol: :lol: :lol:
The Rotten Fruit Always Hits The Ground First

Proud Life Member Of:
NRA
Second Amendment Foundation
Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms
DAV
User avatar
2ndovc
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 9302
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2007 11:59 am
Location: OH, South Shore of Lake Erie

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by 2ndovc »

BlaineG wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:29 pm Judas Priest, Doc...go tumble some brass or something... :lol: :lol: :lol:
Now that was FUNNY!!!! :lol: :lol:

jb 8)
jasonB " Another Dirty Yankee"


" Tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?"
User avatar
crs
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 3153
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:32 am
Location: Republic of Texas
Contact:

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by crs »

Thank you Blaine and Piller for putting this post into proper context.
CRS, NRA Benefactor Member, TSRA, DRSS, DWWC, Whittington Center
Android Ballistics App at http://www.xplat.net/
User avatar
Old Savage
Posting leader...
Posts: 16688
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:43 pm
Location: Southern California

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by Old Savage »

Just tell them you are a Dr. and you don't have be able to write legibly. They will have think there is some connection they don't know about.
In the High Desert of Southern Calif. ..."on the cutting edge of going back in time"...

Image
User avatar
Old Savage
Posting leader...
Posts: 16688
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:43 pm
Location: Southern California

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by Old Savage »

BTW, magnetic north is moving toward Russia at about 40 miles per year. You will want to figure that into your calculations.

And don't forget precession but that takes like 25,960 years.
In the High Desert of Southern Calif. ..."on the cutting edge of going back in time"...

Image
User avatar
GunnyMack
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 9938
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 7:57 am
Location: Not where I want to be!

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by GunnyMack »

Sun spots- those always factor in somewhere!
Full moon has an effect too... :lol:
BROWN LABS MATTER !!
User avatar
FWiedner
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 8862
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2007 9:50 pm
Location: North Texas

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by FWiedner »

If you're shooting west your bullet will travel with an increased velocity. The closer to a pole you get, you'll start shooting low.

Conversely, if you're shooting east, your bullet will lose velocity more quickly, and the closer to a pole you are the higher you'll shoot.

:wink:
Government office attracts the power-mad, yet it's people who just want to be left alone to live life on their own terms who are considered dangerous.

History teaches that it's a small window in which people can fight back before it is too dangerous to fight back.
gcs
Levergunner 3.0
Posts: 570
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 12:42 pm

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by gcs »

Doc,... You need a hobby, LOL
765x53
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1043
Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Bushwhacker Capitol, Missouri

Re: Coriolis Effect

Post by 765x53 »

Oh, "Coriolis Effect". Sorry, I misread that. :)
Post Reply