Tides Flashcards
What are tides?
Tides are the rise and fall in sea
level caused by the moon’s
gravitational pull.
What causes tides?
The force of gravity pulls the moon and Earth (including the water on Earth’s surface) toward each other.
Where are high tides located?
One is on the side closest to
the moon (gravitational
pull)
The other on the opposite
side of the earth (inertia and Earth’s rotation)
Where are low tides located?
They occur in locations at 90
degree angles to the moon.
How many low tides and high tides are there?
The Earth rotates in and out
of the tidal bulges causing most
coastlines to experience
two high tides and two low
tides every 25 hours or so.
What causes a spring tide?
The Moon and the Sun when they are aligned with one another.
What is the effect of a spring tide?
The tides are at their highest and lowest.
How strong are spring tides and what moon phases do they occur in?
Spring tides are especially strong
tides. They occur during the full
moon and the new moon.
What causes a neap tide?
The sun and moon when they are at right angles to one another.
What is the effect of a neap tide?
The effect of a neap is that the sun partially cancels out the effects of the moon and this results in lower high tides and higher low tides.
How strong are neap tides and what moon phases do they occur in?
Neap tides are especially weak
tides. They occur during quarter
moons.
What would happen if the moon disappeared?
-High and low tides would be
diminished by %35.
-Animals wouldn’t be able to reproduce and it would affect their lives too.
-Weather would change (weather
forecast would be nearly
impossible).
-The moon is responsible for Earth’s
tilt on its axis so we wouldn’t have
seasons .
