In psychophysical perception, the Coriolis effect (also referred to as the Coriolis illusion) is the misperception of body orientation and induced nausea due to the

Coriolis force In physics, the Coriolis force is an inertial or fictitious force that acts on objects in motion within a frame of reference that rotates with respect to an inertial frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the force acts to the ...

. This effect comes about as the head is moved in contrary or similar motion with the body during the time of a spin, this rotation of the head affects the

semicircular canals The semicircular canals or semicircular ducts are three semicircular, interconnected tubes located in the innermost part of each ear, the inner ear. The three canals are the horizontal, superior and posterior semicircular canals. Structure Th ...

within the ear which causes a sense of dizziness or nausea before equilibrium is restored after the head returns to a stabilized state.

History

Coriolis force was discovered by

Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis (; 21 May 1792 – 19 September 1843) was a French mathematician, mechanical engineer and scientist. He is best known for his work on the supplementary forces that are detected in a rotating frame of reference, le ...

in 1832. By the end of the nineteenth century, Coriolis force had become a common phrase in meteorological literature. Coriolis force is classified as a

fictitious force A fictitious force is a force that appears to act on a mass whose motion is described using a non-inertial frame of reference, such as a linearly accelerating or rotating reference frame. It is related to Newton's second law of motion, which t ...

that is applied to objects that are in rotation. When applied to perception, this occurs when a person's head is moved out of alignment during a spin. If individuals are spinning to the left along their y-axis and then push their head forward, that will bring their heads out of alignment and make it subject to Coriolis force and resultant effect. The manifestation of this effect is that the individuals will feel like their heads are tilting to their left. This can cause nausea, disorientation, and motion sickness. These feelings of discomfort arise in the body when the signals being sent by the vestibular system and visual system are not in agreement, i.e. the eyes may be telling the body that one is not moving, but the vestibular system's fine-tuned senses are detecting and communicating the opposite.

In the real world

The Coriolis effect is a concern for

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they ar ...

, where it can cause extreme

disorientation Orientation is a function of the mind involving awareness of three dimensions: time, place and person. Problems with orientation lead to ''dis''orientation, and can be due to various conditions, from delirium to intoxication. Typically, disorienta ...

. This happens as pilots accelerate their aircraft and also need to check their instruments, which often involves moving their heads. This is particularly dangerous for an airborne pilot because it can give the feeling that they are pitching, yawing, and rolling simultaneously. In extreme situations, this can cause the pilot to lose control of the aircraft.

History

In the real world

See also

References

Further reading