Past exam of the short options paper shared by Parts A and B of the physics course of the University of Oxford / 2019 / S7 / 2 / d / Solution

At latitude $\ell$, the Earth's angular velocity in east–north–up coordinates is $\mathbf{\Omega }=(0,\Omega \cos \ell ,\Omega \sin \ell )$. Assume a small horizontal patch, constant $\Omega$, negligible vertical velocity, and a vertical constraint balancing effective gravity. Absorb the steady centrifugal force into that effective gravity. With $f=2\Omega \sin \ell$ and physical horizontal force per unit mass $F_x^{\prime },F_y^{\prime }$, the Coriolis force givesLarge-scale atmospheric and oceanic flows deflect to their right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere; their balance with a horizontal pressure gradient produces geostrophic flow. A Foucault pendulum has an oscillation plane that precesses relative to the ground at angular rate $-\Omega \sin \ell$. Both effects vanish at the equator within this horizontal approximation.