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tide
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how the Sun and Moon cause tides
How does the Moon affect Earth's tides?
Understand why there are high and low tides on the earth every day
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tide summary
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Written by
Ronald A.R. Tricker
Staff Inspector for Science, Ministry of Education, U.K., 1946–62. Author of Bores, Breakers, Waves and Wakes; The Contributions of Faraday and Maxwell to Electrical Science; and others.
Ronald A.R. Tricker,
Claudia Cenedese
Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Claudia Cenedese•All
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how the Sun and Moon cause tides
how the Sun and Moon cause tides
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tide, any of the cyclic deformations of one astronomical body caused by the gravitational forces exerted by others. The most familiar are the periodic variations in sea level on Earth that correspond to changes in the relative positions of the Moon and the Sun. The tides may be regarded as forced waves, partially running waves and partially standing waves. They are manifested by vertical movements of the sea surface (the height maximum and minimum are called high water [HW] and low water [LW]) and alternating horizontal movements of the water, the tidal currents. The words ebb and flow are used ...(100 of 837 words)

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