Why does water bulge away from the moon?
High tides and low tides are caused by the moon. The moon’s gravitational pull generates something called the tidal force. The tidal force causes Earth—and its water—to bulge out on the side closest to the moon and the side farthest from the moon. These bulges of water are high tides.
Why the oceans on the side of the Earth that faces the opposite direction from the moon will also have a high tide?
This is due to the fact that around the Moon is pulling on the Earth, and the ocean, on the sides facing the Moon. The Earth compensates for this pulling by bulging out both toward and away from the Moon. This results in more water being displaced in these directions, resulting in high tide.
What happens to the water between the two bulges?
During high tide, the ocean’s waters creep up the shore, deepening the water. This happens as a body of water gets closer to one of the two bulges created by the moon’s gravitational force.
How does the moon’s gravity affect the oceans closest to the moon?
The Moon affects the tides because of gravity. The oceans are pulled towards the Moon’s gravity slightly, causing a bulge or high tide on the side of the Earth closest to the Moon.
Does the moon rotate explain your answer?
The answer is yes, the moon rotates, but it does so much more slowly than Earth does. A “moon day” is around 29.53 Earth days, according to NASA. In other words, whereas Earth completes one rotation every 24 hours, the moon experiences a sunrise roughly every 709 hours.
Why do tides bulge on both sides of Earth?
On the “near” side of the Earth (the side facing the moon), the gravitational force of the moon pulls the ocean’s waters toward it, creating one bulge. On the far side of the Earth, inertia dominates, creating a second bulge. In this way the combination of gravity and inertia create two bulges of water.
Why are there two high tides and two low tides on most days?
Because the Earth rotates through two tidal “bulges” every lunar day, coastal areas experience two high and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes. This occurs because the moon revolves around the Earth in the same direction that the Earth is rotating on its axis.