Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/paper-1/section-a/a3/solution

Use local east, north and upward unit vectors at the equator, with Earth's rotation . The parcel starts at rest relative to the ground. To first order in , its unperturbed vertical velocity is and its fall time from height is
The Coriolis acceleration is . Since north crossed with downward points west, its negative points east:
Integrating with gives the equatorial Coriolis deflection in free fall,
For , and , and
This neglects air resistance, variation of over the fall, and terms of order . The measured local already includes the background centrifugal correction. “Stationary” is interpreted as hovering above a fixed ground location, not being stationary in an inertial frame.

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