Tides

Taijh Powell

1.Basically, tides are very long-period waves that move through the oceans in response to the forces exerted by the moon and sun.

2. When the highest part, or crest of the wave reaches a particular location, high tide occurs; low tide corresponds to the lowest part of the wave, or its trough.

3.difference in height between the high tide and the low tide is called the tidal range

4. The incoming tide along the coast and into the bays and estuaries is called a flood current; the outgoing tide is called an ebb current

5. In the open ocean tidal currents are relatively weak. Near estuary entrances, narrow straits and inlets, the speed of tidal currents can reach up to several kilometers per hour

6. the sun and moon

7. In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton explained that ocean tides result from the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon on the oceans of the earth

8.The gravitational attraction between the Earth and the moon is strongest on the side of the Earth that happens to be facing the moon, simply because it is closer.

9.The moon

10. the force that acts to counterbalance gravity

11. But the gravitational force exceeds it and the water is pulled toward the moon, causing a "bulge" of water on the near side toward the moon

12.the inertial force exceeds the gravitational force, and the water tries to keep going in a straight line, moving away from the Earth, also forming a bulge

13. The Earth's tidal bulges track, or follow, the position of the moon and to a lesser extent, the sun. As these two celestial bodies increase and decrease their angles to the Earth