the force on parts of a extended body in a non-uniform gravitational field due to residual of the gravitational attraction between the overall effect on the body and the expected effect on the point in question. Tidal forces are most notably in large moons orbiting near their primaries.
15
votes
4answers
2k views
Are tidal power plants slowing down Earth's rotation?
Are tidal power plants slowing down Earth's rotation to the speed of the orbiting moon? (1 rotation per 28 cca days)
Are they vice versa increasing the speed of moon orbiting by generating some ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
Why does the moon drift away from earth?
I once saw on TV that the moon is slowly drifting away from the earth, something like an inch a year. In relation to that the day on earth what also increase in time.
I wonder why is that?
13
votes
2answers
848 views
Why Aren't Saturn's Rings Clumping into Moons?
While reading with my son about how a Mars-like planet collided with the early Earth that resulted in our current moon, it said the initial debris also formed a ring, but that ring ended up getting ...
13
votes
5answers
2k views
Why do we always see the same side of the Moon?
I am puzzled why we always see the same side of the Moon even though it is rotating around its own axis apart from revolving around the earth. Shouldn't this only be possible if the Moon is not ...
6
votes
10answers
958 views
Is the distance between the sun and the earth increasing?
M = mass of the sun
m = mass of the earth
r = distance between the earth and the sun
The sun is converting mass into energy by nuclear fusion.
$F = \frac{GMm}{r^2} = \frac{mv^2}{r} \rightarrow r ...
13
votes
2answers
238 views
Is the length of the day increasing?
In Frontiers of Astronomy, Fred Hoyle advanced an idea from E.E.R.Holmberg that although the Earth's day was originally much shorter than it is now, and has lengthened owing to tidal friction, that ...
