Streety,
Thanks for the MSL chart. Where I live we don't see a lot of those.
BOAC,
Thanks for you input, too. I take your point about isobars being any shape...
Question...
When you say 'GF', do you mean Gradient Force? If so, my understanding was that it was not GF but Coriolis Force that deflects wind (or any moving particle) left/right (depending on southern/northern hemisphere). I understood Gradient Force as being the force which accelerates air particles from a high pressure to a low.
So, considering a southern hemisphere example...
Gradient force accelerates air from a high to a low pressure. It is then subjected to Coriolis Force which causes it to bear left. the faster the air travels, the more Coriolis Force pushes it left until, eventually, it the forces balance out and the air particles/wind being to travel parallel to curved isobars. Is this correct?
So, not quite sure how centripetal/centrifugal force affects life in a pressure system. Centrifugal force is defined as the tendency of a body in curved motion to travel in a straight line once released from it 'orbit'...but that doesn't really help me too much...
What I'm after is a vector diagram-type understanding/'picture' for all the forces that act on an average pressure system, assuming it is above the friction layer...
The student was happy with a pretty basic answer, it's just me that's over-thinking the topic
Cheers,
Maudlin.