What is Differential gravity?

Differential gravity is when different parts of something feel gravity differently, like one side gets pulled harder than the other.

Imagine you and your friend are both holding onto a big balloon in space. If the balloon is close to Earth, the side that’s closer to Earth feels a stronger pull than the side farther away. It's like if you're standing on a trampoline and your friend is standing a little further back, gravity pulls you down more strongly than it does them.

Think of a stretchy ball floating near Earth. The part of the ball closest to Earth gets pulled harder, making that side squish together while the far side stretches out. This happens because gravity gets weaker as you go farther away, just like how your voice sounds quieter when you're further from someone.

This is why the Moon has tidal bulges, parts of it are stretched out by Earth’s gravity, and this stretching causes the ocean tides on Earth too!