Ocean Tides & Tidal Forces

How many of you thought the ocean tides were due to a group of giant whales passing gas? Ha-ha! Okay, just kidding... As many of you probably know, ocean tides are formed by tidal forces. Yeah, more of that gravity stuff working its magic. This is where the Moon plays a vital role.

On the side of the Earth closest to the Moon, the lunar gravity is stronger than at the Earth's center, so it pulls the oceans toward the Moon stronger than it pulls the solid earth, as this causes the oceans to stretch out a bit. On the opposite side of this planet, the lunar gravity is weaker than at the Earth's center, and the effects cause the oceans to stretch out a bit, except this time it would be away from the Moon. Also, due to the Moon's gravitational pull, the left side of this planet would also have a slight rightward factor and the right side would have a slight leftward element, and these components would squeeze the oceans inward. So, when you combine the effects and patterns of oceanic stretch & squeeze to this lovely blue planet, you end up with low tides and high tides every day, as we spin around like a bunch of crazed lunatics and feral humanoids. LOL!

I realize this post was really short and to the point, but I'm assuming that most people who are reading about this already have at least some knowledge about cosmic alignments, gravitational pull, how mass affects gravity, and so on. Oh, who am I kidding? I was just being succinct, terse, and concise; ha! 

Image Credit - It is not under copyright protection, as stated here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Standing_wave.gif

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