Introduction
When we walk along the beach, we often notice that the water level rises and recedes at certain times during the day which are known as low and high tides. These high and low tides that we observe on the beaches are caused by waves that form out far out in the ocean that travel along and crash into our coastline. If you have been to the beach more than once, you probably noticed that the high and low tides doesn’t always happen at the same time each day; they change. These waves are caused by an attractive force between masses called gravity and the many objects that contain mass in our solar system are always moving. Because the Moon is constantly orbiting Earth and the Earth is orbiting the Sun, the gravitational forces
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This is the case with the Sun and our Moon. Although our Sun is 27 million times larger than our Moon, it is also 390 times further away from Earth as compared with the Moon. Based on mass alone, the Sun's gravitational attraction to Earth should be more than 177 times greater than that of the Moon and tidal generating forces from the Sun should be 27 million times greater than that of the Moon. However, when you factor in distance, the tidal force exerted by the Sun is reduced by 3903 and is about half that of the Moon [1].
Tidal Elongation Inertia also plays a role in tidal motion on our planet. Inertia, by definition, is the tendency of objects to keep moving in a straight line at constant linear velocity and therefore wants to counteract the gravitational attraction between objects in order for the two objects to continue traveling in a straight line as shown in Figure 1 [1].
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Fig 1: Illustration of the effect that gravity and inertia have on the Earth’s bodies of water. Retrieved from: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/tides/tides03_gravity.html
The Moon pulls most strongly on the water on the Earth’s surface that is facing it simply because it is the closest. Inertia tries to counteract this, but the gravitational attraction prevails on the “near side” of Earth and causes a tidal bulge. However, on the “far side” of Earth, the side facing away from the Moon, the gravitational attraction is weaker and inertia prevails creating another
The moon is by far the biggest and most easily recognizable object in earth’s atmosphere that can be perceived by the naked eye on a cloudless night. It is hypothesized that it came into existence nearly 4.5 billion years ago, from residual debris after a planetary body collided with earth. Although, considered the runner-up to the sun as the second brightest object in the sky, its illumination is deceitful, insomuch as the moon is not a source of light, but instead reflects the sun’s illumination from the half of the moon that is in direct alignment with the sun at that time. More readily identified as a satellite of the earth rather than as a planet itself or even a star, it has a diameter a quarter of the size of earth’s size and it
The earth’s surface is made up of many separate pieces called tectonic plates. These tectonic plates are in constant movement. This
no one is really sure what causes gravity, but the effects have been studied by many
A given spot on the coast will experience two high and two low tides each day. High tide occurs when the Moon and Earth are facing towards each other and away from each other. Low tide occurs when the Moon is facing the Earth at 90˚ and 270˚.
The Earth revolves around the sun due to the gravitational force between them, so the Earth is pulled by the gravitation between it and the Sun. The Sun moves in an orbit as well due to the same gravitational force between it and the planet, which is the same as in real life. Also, the Moon revolves around the Earth like the moon revolves around the planet. It can be observed that the moon moves faster when the planet (Earth) is closer to the sun. This can be confirmed using Kepler’s Second Law (Equal Areas) because it states that the speed of the planet constantly changes and becomes faster when it is closer to the sun because it is in an elliptical
cruising through those small towns with souvenirs shops to each side, seafood restaurants mixed in and public access trails to the beaches spotted along the route you will notice that the buildings directly on the beach are on stilts.
The Bay’s salinity varies widely from season to season and from year to year, depending on the amount of fresh water flowing from its rivers. The Bay tends to be fresher in spring, when snow melts and heavy rainstorms frequently fall. During the drier months, the Bay is usually saltier. Salinity also increases with depth. Fresh water remains at the surface because it is less dense than salt water. The water on the Bay’s eastern shore tends to be saltier than the water on the western side. This is due to two factors; most fresh water enters the Bay from its northern and western tributaries, and The Coriolis Force, a phenomenon caused by the earth’s rotation, pushes flowing water in the Northern Hemisphere to the right, causing saltier water to move up the Bay veers toward the eastern shore.
Is there a dark side of the moon? (Note: this question can be effectively answered either yes or no, so it is important to explain your reasoning.) ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
On June 19th, my classmates and I had field trip for Oceanography Lab (OCN 101) class with Professor Ocean Matt Horrigan. We went to Corte Madera Salt Marsh, which is located 12 miles North of San Francisco, to examine how rising and falling of tide effect on
the right of the direction of the wind in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in
First explained with science by Isaac Newton in 1686, tides are known as the regular rise and fall of the ocean. Tides are created by the gravitational forces of the sun and the moon. A high tide is created when the moon's gravitational force tugs on water from the oceans and causes bulges. Even though high tides would be the most powerful on the side of Earth facing the moon, high tides will occur throughout the whole earth. Sometimes, depending on the Earth’s stage during the orbit around the sun, the earth is able to have special and even sometimes rare tides. One tide that’s rare is known as The Proxigean Spring Tide. The rare Proxigean Spring Tide is a very high tide that produce large waves. It occurs when the moon is unusually close to the Earth and in a new moon phase. When this type of tide occurs, it also means that the moon is between the earth and sun. In the book Life as We Knew It when the moon his with an asteroid knocking it out orbit. The moon gets very close to earth and the first natural disaster to occur are tidal waves. The Proxigean Spring Tide came to mind because the moon, in order to happen,the moon must be unusually close
Explain why the Sun's influence on Earth's tides is only 46% that of the Moon's, even though the Sun is so much more massive than the Moon.
The diameter of the sun is more than one hundred times greater than of the earth
6. What causes ocean tides? Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of both the moon and the sun. The moon being closer has a greater effect on tides. Water on the side of Earth closest to the moon bulges toward the moon. There is also a bulge away from the moon on the opposite side of the Earth.
gravitational pull and all of the asteroids in it revolve around the Sun. Although the majority of