# clockwise in peru

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-in-peru/102346>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 7, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-in-peru/102346 "2002-04-07T19:09:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jsleek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8dc957/32.png) [@jsleek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsleek)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-in-peru/102346/1 "2002-04-07T19:09:53Z")

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In the northern hemisphere a shadow rotates clockwise because the sun moves clockwise through the sky. The hands of analog clocks also move left to right as they’re built to imitate a sundial.

Do sundials move clockwise in the southern hemisphere?

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-in-peru/102346/2 "2002-04-07T19:39:22Z")

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No, they would move anticlockwise if you are south of the equator.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-in-peru/102346/3 "2002-04-07T19:40:47Z")

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…which I have just remembered is called _counter_clockwise by Americans and other aliens.

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**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-in-peru/102346/4 "2002-04-07T19:44:07Z")

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Actually, sundials don’t move in either hemisphere.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-in-peru/102346/5 "2002-04-07T19:53:11Z")

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Neither do shadows because they don’t exist.

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**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-in-peru/102346/6 "2002-04-07T20:00:04Z")

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well, sundials don’t move anywhere, at least the ones I’ve seen. But the shadow does move in different directions. It is easy to visualise.  
The sun always moves from East to West so a shadow always moves from West to East. Now, if you are North of the sun, as you face north the shadow moves right (clockwise) but if you are south of the sun facing south, the shadow moves left (counterclockwise).

Note that outside of the tropics the sun is north or south of the observer all year round but in the tropics it can be north or south depending on the date.