Tides

Title: Tides

Explanation of Topic (Definition, Key Points, Details)

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels.

Tides are caused by the combined effects of the rotation of the Earth and the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun. There are two types of tides **high tides** and **low tides.** High tide are caused when the moons attraction is the strongest. When there is a full moon or a new moon a spring tide occurs. **Spring tides** are considered high tides because the moon is the strongest during its new and full stages. Low tides are caused when the moon is its weakest. When the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon is perpendicular to each other a **neap tide** is formed.

The pull of the moon causes oceans to bulge out in the direction of the moon and this causes an equal and opposite bulge on the opposite side of the earth. Low tides lowest point rises six hours until it reaches high tides, then it fall for about six hours until it reaches low tides. This cycle occurs twice a day and is called **semi-diurnal** tide. A **diurnal** tide is a rare cycle it occurs when there’s only one high tide and one low tide a day. A **tide range** is the difference between a high and low tide. The range changes everyday because of the position of the sun and moons position. Other causes for tide range are the shape, size, and the formation of the seacoast.

A destruction caused by tides are house flooding from unusually high tides. Tides are also very helpful. Animals that live in a tide pool environment need high tide to refill the pools they live in. tides can also help navigate ships. They can also help circulate water and act as a waste drainage system.

Visual Examples (Pictures, Graphics, Animations)



Links to more information: See work cited section.

Interesting Facts or Discoveries:

The gravitational force of the moon is one ten-millionth that of earth, but when you combine other forces such as the earth's centrifugal force created by its spin, you get tides.

Works Cited: []

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[|http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/]