Secrets of the tides

At any coast, the tide flows up and down, in and out. But WHY?

How Tides Work

Tides happen because of the Moon –but it’s complicated!

1. The Moon is smaller than the Earth, but it still has gravity . It pulls on the Earth’s water, making it ‘bulge’ towards the Moon.

spins once a day, so different parts of the sea move into the bulge areas. They rise up, high tide ! High tide High tide Low tide

Times Of The Tides

The Moon’s gravity causes tides.

2. The Moon also pulls the Earth, making it swing around slightly as the Moon orbits it. This makes water bulge out on the side opposite the Moon too!

But wait… it gets even weirder! The tide goes in and out roughly twice a day – but not exactly… whizzpopbang.com 8

The Earth spins, moving through two high tides a day.

This means the bulges change position, gradually moving around the world. Moon Earth Pull of gravity

So it actually takes a bit more than 24 hours for the tide to go in and out twice. Each day, high tide happens a bit later than the day before.