Quick (Most likely simple) Question

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SUMMARY

The discussion clarifies the phenomenon of tidal forces exerted by the Moon on Earth, explaining that the Moon's gravitational pull affects ocean tides on both the side facing the Moon and the opposite side. This occurs because the Moon pulls the ocean away from the Earth on its side, while simultaneously pulling the Earth away from the ocean on the far side. The concept of an oblate spheroid is introduced to illustrate how different parts of the Earth experience varying gravitational forces, which is explained through Newtonian gravitation and General Relativity.

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  • Understanding of gravitational forces
  • Basic knowledge of Newtonian physics
  • Familiarity with General Relativity concepts
  • Knowledge of tidal phenomena
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Students of physics, oceanographers, and anyone interested in understanding the mechanics of tides and gravitational interactions between celestial bodies.

josht
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I was just curious why the moon has a pull on a tide facing the moon and on the complete opposite side of the Earth it has the same pull.

-Josh
 
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josht said:
I was just curious why the moon has a pull on a tide facing the moon and on the complete opposite side of the Earth it has the same pull.
Actually the mass of the moon causes the Earth to squeeze a bit.
 
josht said:
I was just curious why the moon has a pull on a tide facing the moon and on the complete opposite side of the Earth it has the same pull.

-Josh
Hi Josh! Welcome to these Forums!

One way of looking at it is to say on the Moon's side of the Earth the Moon pulls the ocean away from the Earth, on the other side the Moon pulls the Earth away from the ocean.

Another way of understanding it is to consider a sphere of dust particles, as a model of a 'fluid' Earth, falling towards the Moon. The 'left' and 'right' extremities are drawn towards the Moon and therefore close in on each other.

The sphere becomes an oblate spheroid because of the slightly different directions in which the Moon attracts different parts of the Earth. These are called tidal forces and are described both by Newtonian gravitation and General Relativity.

I hope this helps.

Garth
 

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