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What explains the cause of tides on Earth?
Gravity is one major force that creates tides. In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton explained that ocean tides result from the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon on the oceans of the earth (Sumich, J.L., 1996). Tidal forces are based on the gravitational attractive force.
Does the Earth affect tides?
The relative distances and positions of the sun, moon and Earth all affect the size and magnitude of the Earth’s two tidal bulges. At a smaller scale, the magnitude of tides can be strongly influenced by the shape of the shoreline. Local wind and weather patterns also can affect tides.
How did ancient people explain tides?
Plato reportedly believed that the tides were caused by water flowing in and out of undersea caverns. An ancient Indian Purana text dated to 400-300 BC refers to the ocean rising and falling because of heat expansion from the light of the Moon.
How did the Greeks explain the tides?
One of the earliest careful observers of ocean tides was the Greek geographer Pytheas of Massalia. (Tides were essentially absent from the Mediterranean Sea, which was more familiar to the Greeks.) Pytheas proposed an explanation for tidal action: the pull of the Moon on the Earth’s oceans, he said, caused the tides.
What would be the effect on Earth’s tides if the diameter of Earth were larger than it is?
If Earth were much larger than it is, then the higher tides would be much higher and the low tides would be much lower.
What is Galileo’s theory of tides?
As a staunch Copernican, Galileo had an explanation at hand: the tides are propelled by the dual motion of the Earth around the Sun and on its own axis. Because the direction of rotation of the Earth’s annual and daily movements are the same, their speeds accumulate on the side of the Earth turned away from the Sun.
Who controls the tides in Greek mythology?
POSEIDON The king of the seas and lord of the sea-gods. Poseidon received his domain when the three sons of Kronos drew lots for division of the universe.
What did Galileo think caused the tides?
Clearly inspired by the behaviour of water when boats come to a halt, Galileo Galilei concluded that the ebb and flow of the tides resulted, similarly, from the acceleration and deceleration of the oceans. This, in turn, was caused by the movement of the Earth around the Sun, and its rotation on its own axis.
Who came up with the theory of tides?
Galileo
For most of his adult life, from about the age of 30 until his death at 78 in the year 1642, Galileo propounded his theory of how the tides work.