What Causes the Tides Exactly?

The moon pulls the ocean like a giant magnet. Imagine you're in a pool, and someone on the other side of the room starts pulling your feet, that's how the moon tugs on Earth’s water. When the moon is close to Earth, it creates high tides, and when it moves away, it leaves behind low tides. The sun helps too, like a friend joining in for a bigger tug-of-war.

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Examples

When the moon is above your head, you feel a high tide. When it’s on the other side of Earth, you feel low tide.
Imagine playing with water in a big bucket, when someone pulls the bucket toward them, the water rises on one end and falls on the other.
If you were a fish near the shore, you might swim higher up when the moon is out.

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Categories: Science · tides,moon,gravity,oceanography