# toilet bowls--why is the water level full to the brim? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563 "2004-12-01T20:30:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563/21 "2004-12-02T12:45:40Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > And what’s the big deal with making noise while peeing? If the master bathroom is connected to the master bedroom, loud peeing in the middle of the night can wake up your significant other, even with the connecting door closed. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563/22 "2004-12-02T14:47:23Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > virtually every toilet in America has a spherical-shaped bowl ,which is full to the brim with water maybe 10 inches deep. Why so full? That is a very broad statement. I agree with Munch. Is this a Whoosh? A bowl full to the brim won’t flush. It will overflow! Perhaps it it someone else that is full of something else! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563/23 "2004-12-02T15:11:28Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > virtually every toilet in America has a spherical-shaped bowl ,which is full to the brim with water maybe 10 inches deep. Right off the bat, a statement contrary to my own observations. From Maine to Hawaii and from Florida to Utah I have seldom seen a properly-installed American toilet that has “10 inches of water”. But, on that, I will grant that to the outsider encountering older high-flush toilets it probably LOOKED like there’s that much water in there, when really there ain’t, just because of the difference (even less so now with the lo-flush models). Just like to us raised on American sit-down johnnies it looks like you’d need a &^%$# bombsight, AND to sew your trouser pockets shut, in order to use the hole-in-the-floor Mediterranean setup. And never once upon sitting on a properly-functioning American potty has anything taken an unexpected dip, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563/24 "2004-12-02T15:22:31Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Oh, and just to take the TMI quotient through the roof…isn’t there an obligation on any urinating male to use his power to destroy any residual markings on the porcelain? Oh yes- and it’s fun, too! Almost as much fun as aiming for dead flies and cigarette butts in urinals. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563/25 "2004-12-03T03:55:24Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > That is a very broad statement. > I agree with Munch. > Is this a Whoosh? > A bowl full to the brim won’t flush. It will overflow! OK. You’ve repeated what others have said. Did you read post #12 which suggests what the OP may have meant? Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563/26 "2004-12-03T04:07:13Z")
Don’t get too distracted by the hyperbole used in the OP. In spirit he is right - US loos have a much greater volume of water in them that ones here or in Europe, in my experience. Not literally full to the brim of course, but so full that a man’s hand can get wet when trying to wipe his bum if he’s not careful. I know of Americans who stand up to wipe because of this. It’s true this prevents stickage to the porcelain, and also allows the deliberate swirling during the flush (the source of the “southern hemisphere” UL) presumably to reduce gurgling noises (while wasting a lot of water). IOW the whole thing stems from sensitivity about bodily functions, also demonstrated by the common euphemisms “bathroom” and “restroom” in use there. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563/27 "2004-12-03T04:16:43Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > Not literally full to the brim of course, but so full that a man’s hand can get wet when trying to wipe his bum if he’s not careful. I know of Americans who stand up to wipe because of this. Struth! And I just talk sport and politics when I meet Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563/28 "2004-12-03T09:11:46Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Oh, and just to take the TMI quotient through the roof…isn’t there an obligation on any urinating male to use his power to destroy any residual markings on the porcelain? I consider it my sacred duty. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563/29 "2004-12-03T14:16:47Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Many home toilets are composed of a lower hemi-sphere(ish) part and a upper cylindrical part that extends the ‘brim’ of that hemi-sphere upward to the seat. I’m guessing the OP meant the water was filled to the brim of the spherical shape, not the very brim of the seat. IOW, half full. Peace. **An example of miscommunication.** From another thread… A Most Profound Statement “_Because it is hard to ask questions when one knows nothing about what one is asking._” js\_africanus, Straight Dope Message Boards. ----- The original post question. “Moving heat from mercury to water; raise water temp by X to lower mercury temp by 1° If I have equivalent amounts of mercury and water, and transfer heat from the mercury to the water, how much do I have to raise the temperature of the water to lower the temperature of the mercury by one degree? Is there some sort of term or number that makes this easy to figure out? Thanks much.” # ------ The original post and replies as per above. \<[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=289080](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=289080)\> The question hinges on: Just what are "Equivalent amounts of Hg & H2O? **Questions should be clearly stated and unambiguous.** What did/does OP mean by full to the rim? I would understand that to be water standing up to the bottom of the top rim where some of the flush water flows down to wash the sides of the entire bowl. moriah: You refer to an upper cylindrical part. I have never seen such a toilet in all of my experience with waste disposal. All toilets have a larger semi-spherical bowl with a smaller area at the bottom to contain water for sealing off the waste pipe. Learn more about toilets. 🙂 [Toiletology 101](http://www.toiletology.com/index.shtml) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-bowls-why-is-the-water-level-full-to-the-brim/277563.md?page=1)