What causes tides to occur?
Gravitational pull of the moon causes the tides to occur.The high tide occurs both in the direction of the moon and on the opposite side of the earth.Low tides occur approximately 90 degrees(on both sides) from the direction of the high tides.The water does not go anywhere.It piles up in the direction where high tides occur and decreases by the same amount over the places wher the low tides occur.
Tides are quite complicated, and are caused by the difference in gravitational attraction from one side of a large object (such as the earth) to the other. Tides on earth are caused by the gravitational attraction of the earth to the moon and also to the sun. Although the moon is a lot smaller than the sun, it is a lot closer to the earth; so the moon’s gravitational effect on the tides is about three times that of the sun. The highest tides ocur when the sun, the earth and the moon are all in line, and the gravitational attraction of the sun and the moon is aligned. These are called ‘spring tides’, and they happen during new moon (when the sun and the moon are on the same side of the Earth), and full moon (when the sun and the moon are opposite each other). When the sun and the moon are at right angles, relative to the earth (during half moon), the tides are at their weakest, called ‘neap tides’. Also, during its orbit around the sun, the earth is closer to the sun at times; and durin
