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### Why do tidal waves appear so suddenly in some rivers?

As tide approaches in lower part of some rivers (e.g. Ganges), a several feet high tidal wave enters from the sea against the flow of the river (making a great noise), and the water level suddenly ...
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### Geocentric reference frame and tides

In reading about different frames of reference, and why they are only approximately Galilean frames of reference. The argument for why the geocentric reference frame is not a Galilean was that it ...
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### Should the centripetal force of Earth's orbit around the Sun affect a pendulum on Earth?

Lets use approximate earth angular velocity around the sun with $\omega\approx2*10^{-7}\frac{r}{s}$ and earth translation orbit radius with $r\approx1.5*10^{11}m$ we can approximate centripetal ...
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### How the moon takes energy from Earth (if at all)?

At least twice (on the comments of this answer, and mentioned in passing on this book), I have read that the moon takes energy from Earth due to tidal drag. The notion seems that: a) energy must ...
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### What exactly is the energy source of tides?

Tides happen due to the gravitational interactions between the Earth and the Moon. We can say that the tides are pulled by the Moon's gravitational field and so it keeps on changing as it moves out of ...
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### Will extracting power from ocean tides affect the moon's orbit in the LONG run?

Conservation of energy says that any energy extracted from our ocean's tides would have to come from somewhere. Since these tides are a gravitational effect due to the moon, it would seem that the ...
94 views

### How does the sea level reach a fixed height? [closed]

Consider a flat body of water on the Earth. On all tiny elements of water in that body, the buoyant force is equal to the force of gravity due to Earth. Now if I introduce the moon to this body, (or ...
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### Relative size of the 2 tidal bulges

I am interested in making a simplified model that represents only the effect that the moon has on Earths tides. In this model I am going to assume that the earth is completely spherical (with no ...
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### Deriving the expression for the static equilibrium height of liquids under tidal force

I have tried looking at various sources and Wikipedia articles. I also checked some Q&As here at StackExchange but I couldn't quite grasp how the formula for the height of tides is derived when we ...
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### Calculate Height of Ocean Tides if Earth Had a Larger/Smaller Radius

For context, I'm coming at this question from the Worldbuilding stackexchange, where I've posted a related question. I'm not a physicist or scientist by training, so if I make any glaring errors, ...
22 views

### Are the high tides always more unequal when the centre of gravity is within a planet?

In case of our high tides at both sides of the Earth it seems that they are almost equal. But is there a slight difference because the center of gravity is about 1,700 km below the surface of the ...
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### Is this derivation for the development of two opposite two bulges of water due to the circling of two bodies around their CM right?

I tried it this way. Consider two equal spherical masses M, covered with a layer of water, circling around each other at a distance $l$ (measured between their centers). They have radius $R$ and ...
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### Will an object orbiting a non-rotating mass with a layer of water on it cause two bulges of water on opposite sides of it? [duplicate]

Imagine a non-rotating spherical mass with a sea on its surface (somewhat like the earth, except for the rotating part). Around this mass is circling an object with a much smaller mass, but ...
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### If the ground's normal force cancels gravity, how does a person keep rotating with the Earth?

When I am on earth, the weight of my body is countered by the reaction of the ground. So, there is no net force acting on me. But I am spinning with earth. But if there is no centripetal force then ...
12k views

### Why do some location on Earth have only one tidal maximum per day instead of two?

Most places in the ocean have two high tides and two low tides per "day" (~25 hours). But I remember reading that some locations only have one of each per day. This answer has some great explanations ...
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### By which factors are tides and waves affected?

To my understanding, the tides and waves on Earth's oceans are caused by various factors such as the moon's gravity, the water cycle (rains, storms, evaporation), Earth's rotation, etc. Although the ...
9k views

### Why don't lakes have tides?

There's a tidal effect that we can clearly observe in oceans, which is the effect of gravity from the Sun and the Moon. If gravity affects everything equally, why don't lakes have tides?
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### Are there tides in the atmosphere?

Analogous to the tides of Earths oceans, do the Moon and Sun cause our atmosphere to bulge in what could be described as a low and high tide?
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### How to calculate tide times?

How do I calculate the time of the tides at a given location? I'm not interested in the amplitude of the tides, just the times when they occur.
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### Tidal Forces Misunderstanding [duplicate]

I'm sure there are several misconceptions here and I'd greatly appreciate it if someone could help me identify and correct them. When calculating tidal forces across an object, the earth for example, ...
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### Why are tidal forces pointing away from the Moon? [duplicate]

I am currently reading The Science of Insterstellar, which explains most things very well, but some things leave me confuzzled, which I hope to get answers to here. I am no physicist, but highly ...
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### What are the tidal effects of Io on Jupiter?

I recall reading an essay by Asimov (I think) around 1980 stating that the tides are a function of a power of the diameter of the primary, so (surprisingly) small close moons of Jupiter raise large ...
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### How does the Moon cause the tides?

I am considering the following question, but I can't quite figure it out... I have looked up differential gravity, but I cannot derive the equation for the effect on Earth, and I haven't found any ...
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### Explanation of the waves on the water planet in the movie Interstellar?

We will ignore some of the more obvious issues with the movie and assume all other things are consistent to have fun with some of these questions. Simple [hopefully] Pre-questions: 1) If the water ...
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### Why is the Moon considered the major cause of tides, even though it is weaker than the Sun?

You have likely read in books that tides are mainly caused by the Moon. When the Moon is high in the sky, it pulls the water on the Earth upward and a high-tide happens. There is some similar effect ...
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### Conservation of angular momentum in Earth-Moon system

We all know about the fact that tidal friction is slowly slowing down the Earth's rotation about its axis, and that subsequently the Moon is slowly drifting away, in order for the angular momentum of ...
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### How does angular momentum transfer between a planet and its moon?

Could you explain how a moon draws angular momentum from a planet? I know that the gravitational force transfers momentum, but I don't understand the mechanics behind it.
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### Are we slightly lighter during the day and slightly heavier at night, owing to the force of the Sun's gravity?

Using $g = \frac{Gm}{r^2}$, the force on a point mass located at 1 AU from the Sun ($m = 2 \cdot 10^{30} \text{ kg}$) is about ~0.006 N/kg. Does that mean that, e.g., a 70 kg person is ~42g lighter ...