What Causes Tides to Change?

The moon and sun are like magical friends who dance with the ocean to make tides change.

Imagine the Earth is covered in water, like a giant bubble of ocean. The moon is close enough to pull on this water, making it bulge out a little on the side facing it. That’s when we get high tide. But there's also another bulge on the opposite side of Earth, because the moon pulls harder on the Earth than on the water on the far side, like when you tug on one end of a rope and the other end flaps around. So that's two high tides each day.

Now imagine the sun is also there, sometimes helping the moon pull the ocean, making tides even bigger. That’s called a spring tide. But when the sun and moon are pulling in different directions, the tides are smaller, that's a neap tide.

It’s like having two friends who both want to play with you: one pulls you gently, the other strongly, and sometimes they work together or go against each other. That’s what makes tides change every day! The moon and sun are like magical friends who dance with the ocean to make tides change.

Imagine the Earth is covered in water, like a giant bubble of ocean. The moon is close enough to pull on this water, making it bulge out a little on the side facing it. That’s when we get high tide. But there's also another bulge on the opposite side of Earth, because the moon pulls harder on the Earth than on the water on the far side, like when you tug on one end of a rope and the other end flaps around. So that's two high tides each day.

Now imagine the sun is also there, sometimes helping the moon pull the ocean, making tides even bigger. That’s called a spring tide. But when the sun and moon are pulling in different directions, the tides are smaller, that's a neap tide.

It’s like having two friends who both want to play with you: one pulls you gently, the other strongly, and sometimes they work together or go against each other. That’s what makes tides change every day!