Why are there two tides ?

[Yoga Face]

The biggest tide is caused by the gravity of the moon pulling on the water (the greater high tide).

It is also pulling on the sea floor but the water is closer so the pull is greater as well the water is fluid so it fluxes more


When the moon is on the other side of the earth there is usually a lesser high tide


What causes the lesser high tide ?


My guess is that the moon is pulling the ocean water on the other side of the earth in (as opposed to bulging it out which is what occurs at the greater high tide) causing the ocean to flatten into a lesser high tide

 

[The Options Menu]

My guess is that the moon is pulling the ocean water on the other side of the earth in (as opposed to bulging it out which is what occurs at the greater high tide) causing the ocean to flatten into a lesser high tide

Wikipedia probably has the answer, but that would be my guess... I mean think of a half full plate of water, covered in plastic wrap, and the pushing down on the middle. The water should go up on the edges. Instead of pushing down on the middle the moon is basically pulling down on the middle from the other side of the planet. While large bodies of water can be quite deep, they tend to be many orders of magnitude wider. You wouldn't need to 'tug' that much water toward the Earth's core to have a noticeable effect around the edges.

(This is with no research, not even internet research. Ye have been warned.)

 

[Yoga Face]

Wikipedia probably has the answer, but that would be my guess... I mean think of a half full plate of water, covered in plastic wrap, and the pushing down on the middle. The water should go up on the edges. Instead of pushing down on the middle the moon is basically pulling down on the middle from the other side of the planet. While large bodies of water can be quite deep, they tend to be many orders of magnitude wider. You wouldn't need to 'tug' that much water toward the Earth's core to have a noticeable effect around the edges.

(This is with no research, not even internet research. Ye have been warned.)

So you agree with me but we are both guessing

Wikipedia did not give me my answer

 

[Aardvark154]

This patern of one high and one low tide which is greater than the other high or low tide in a given day is called mixed semidiurnal tides. The cause is as you say because the tide of the earth closest to the moon experiences greater gravitational pull than the far side of the earth.


See the following site for much greater detail.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/tides/tides07_cycles.html

 

[Brill]

The Crimson Tide

Moon, month, and menstruation are all related etymologically but probably aren't linked otherwise.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1348/whats-the-link-between-the-moon-and-menstruation

 

[Kenny-sauga]

Why the moon only pulls water? The distance between moon and water is too great (don't know the exact number). If moon is "gravityless"...how can it pulll water?

The astronauts seem to float on the surface of the moon...how come moon still assert gravitation pull 100's of thousads miles away?

 

[The Options Menu]

If moon is "gravityless"...how can it pulll water?

The moon has mass therefore it has gravity. It's just low gravity compared to Earth. Heck, you generate gravity. Just not much.

 

[LurkingInMyTent]

Why the moon only pulls water? The distance between moon and water is too great (don't know the exact number). If moon is "gravityless"...how can it pulll water?

The astronauts seem to float on the surface of the moon...how come moon still assert gravitation pull 100's of thousads miles away?

Firstly, the whole of the earth reacts to the gravitational force exerted by the moon, it is just that most of the earth is pretty rigid, being pretty much all solid rock in the crust and mantle. Water however is a liquid and is free to slosh around, so the effect of the moon's gravitational force is much more obvious.

As for astronauts seeming to float on the surface of the moon, you need to look more closely... they can jump much higher and further than on the surface of the earth but they're not floating at all. The gravitational acceleration on the surface of the moon is about 1/6th that on earth's surface, but it isn't zero.

 

[Boss Nass]

...they can jump much higher and further than on the surface of the earth...

Actually they didn't because the suits were very restrictive, it's one point that hoax dweebs keep forgetting. And I know you're not one, I'm just being pedantic. :biggrin1: