What Causes the ‘Tides’ and How Are They Affected by the Moon?

Imagine the ocean as a big bowl of water. The moon is like a giant magnet in the sky, pulling on it. When the moon pulls hard enough, the water rises, that’s a high tide. When the moon moves away, the water goes down, that’s a low tide. Sometimes the sun helps too, making tides even bigger or smaller.

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Examples

When you're on a beach at night, the moon's pull makes the water rise around you, that's high tide.
The sun helps make tides bigger when it lines up with the moon, like during full or new moons.
A low tide is when the moon pulls away, and the water goes down so much you can walk across the beach.

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Categories: Environment · tides,moon,gravity