NATS 1570 Lecture 6: Lecture 6
9 Mar 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Lecture 6: the moon chp 6 of astronomy. Tides earth"s tides are caused by interaction with the moon"s gravitation. The moon"s gravity causes a bulge in the water, and earth rotates through this bulge so tides rise and fall twice a day. During the full and new moon the moon and sun align, so the tides are very high (spring tides) as their gravities combine. This notion of tidal forces is very important. The strength of a gravitational field is dependent on distance. Earth"s surface is also affected, but is solid so it only moves a few centimetres, whereas the water can rise and fall by several meters. These tidal forces occur between any two bodies, and in the extreme case, these tidal forces can pull a body apart from the differences in forces between the front and the back. If the moon got too close to earth it would be torn apart by this tidal effect of gravity.
