• Question: how does the moon control the tides

    Asked by 643enek52 to Emma, Karla, Shane, Stephen, Yang on 14 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by 346enek52, 525enek52.
    • Photo: Emma Hanley

      Emma Hanley answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      Tides are what we see as the rise and fall of the levels of the ocean. The tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth. The moon location has the biggest effect on tides. The gravitational pull of the moon causes a high tide on the side of the earth directly below the moon and the opposite side of the earth.

    • Photo: Karla Dussan

      Karla Dussan answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      @Emma has explained well. Fun fact: That interaction that causes the tides makes the moon gets further away every day (about 3 centimeters every year). That tidal friction transfers energy to the moon, making its orbit bigger. There is this story written by Italo Calvino in his Cismicomics compilation about this fact… It is a lovely story: http://www.aleastory.co.uk/The-Distance-of-the-Moon.pdf

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