Hot Pink List

Why are there two tides ?

Yoga Face

New member
Jun 30, 2009
6,318
19
0
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

A Not So New Member
Sep 13, 2005
5,412
1,862
113
GTA
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

New member
Jun 30, 2009
6,318
19
0
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
 

Kenny-sauga

New member
Feb 20, 2005
576
0
0
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

A Not So New Member
Sep 13, 2005
5,412
1,862
113
GTA
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.
 
Feb 15, 2003
530
0
16
Deepest Darkest Woods
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.
 
Ashley Madison
Toronto Escorts