For a novel I'm writing, does a liquid's surface (e.g. coffee) slope upward in the opposite direction to the spin of the torus in a space station such as in 2001?
I'm guessing it does due to the coriolis effect, but need to be certain before publishing.
The Coriolis effect only takes place when there's a radial motion or a motion with a radial component - a change of distance from the spinning axis. If you lift your coffee cup the coffee will slope slightly in the direction of the spin (as it tries to keep its momentum with a decreasing spinning radius), depending on the rate of lift, the rate of spin, and the coffee's distance from the axis.
In rest (no change in radial distance), the coffee's surface will just have a very slight cylindric, concave curvature, so that any point in it is the exact same distance from the axis. (This is the exact opposite to a coffee subjected to a planet's gravity that has a - much slighter - spheric, convex curvature towards the planet's center of gravity, much better observed with an ocean.)
