Tides Flashcards
What is a diurnal inequality?
Two high tides and two low tides of unequal sizes in the same day.
What magnitude is the suns effect on the rides in comparison to the moon?
0.46
What is a tide?
The periodic rise and fall of the sea.
What is the flood tide?
Incoming tide
What is the ebb tide?
Outgoing tide
What is tidal range?
The height difference between a successive high and low tide (in m).
What are conjuctions?
When the sun and moon are aligned.
What form of tides are spring tides?
Conjunction
What are spring tides?
Spring tides are when the sun and moon are aligned (either both on same side of earth or opposite each other)
Why are spring tides larger than neap tides?
Because the gravitational force of the sun and moon is combined where as neap tides (1/4; 3/4) are when the sun and moon are out of alignment so the Fg of each is opposing each other.
What is a quadrature?
A 1/4, 3/4 new moon when the sun and moon are not aligned and so the Fg of the sun and moon work against each other reducing bulge size and therefore tide size.
There are 2 spring tides per month, why is one larger than the other?
Perigee is larger then apogee as this is when sun and moon are on the same side of the earth. Apogee is when sun and moon are on opposite sides of the earth.
What is a perigee tide?
The monthly spring tide where the sun and moon are on the same side of the earth.
What is an Apogee tide?
The monthly spring tide when the sun and moon face each other linearly but on opposite sides of the planet
What is a Perihelion tide?
When the earth is closest to the sun annually. (Jan. 2) is a fixed cycle
