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High and low tide in the Bay of Fundy. The theory of tides is the application of continuum mechanics to interpret and predict the tidal deformations of planetary and satellite bodies and their atmospheres and oceans (especially Earth's oceans) under the gravitational loading of another astronomical body or bodies (especially the Moon and Sun).
Later medieval understanding of the tides was primarily based on works of Muslim astronomers, which became available through Latin translation starting from the 12th century. [23] Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi (d. circa 886), in his Introductorium in astronomiam, taught that ebb and flood tides were caused by the Moon. [23]
Body tides also exist in other astronomical objects, such as planets and moons. In Earth's moon, body tides "vary by about ±0.1 m each month." [11] It plays a key role in long-term dynamics of planetary systems. For example, it is due to body tides in the Moon that it is captured into the 1:1 spin-orbit resonance and is always showing us one side.
Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun, by Earth's rotation and by centrifugal force caused by Earth's progression around the Earth-Moon barycenter. Tidal range depends on time and location.
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite.It orbits around Earth at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the width of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon's orbital period (lunar month) with its rotation period at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always face Earth.
The effect of long-period tides on lunar orbit is a controversial topic, some literatures conclude that the long-period tides accelerate the Moon and slow down the Earth. [4] [5] However Cheng [6] found that dissipation of the long-period tides brakes the Moon and actually accelerates the Earth's rotation. To explain this, they assumed the ...
The exact interval between tides is influenced by the position of the Moon and Sun relative to the Earth, as well as the specific location on Earth where the tide is being measured. Due to the Moon's orbital prograde motion, it takes a particular point on the Earth (on average) 24 hours and 50.5 minutes to rotate under the Moon, so the time ...
Atmospheric tides are also produced through the gravitational effects of the Moon. [4] Lunar (gravitational) tides are much weaker than solar thermal tides and are generated by the motion of the Earth's oceans (caused by the Moon) and to a lesser extent the effect of the Moon's gravitational attraction on the atmosphere.