Download Lecture 10: Tides

Lecture 10: Tides
Terminology
Lunar tidal bulge, solar tidal bulge, neap tide, spring tide, new moon, half moon, full moon, tangential
velocity, orbital velocity, centripetal force, barycenter, center-seeking force, tidal cycle, amphidromic
point
Dates: none
Numbers:
How far is the moon from the Earth in terms of Earth diameters?
How large is the solar tidal bulge compared to that of the Moon?
What effect does the Earth’s rotation have on the overall shape of the planet?
How deep inside the Earth is the Earth-Moon barycenter
Review Questions:
Explain how the tides differ at new moon, half moon, and full moon. Why?
“Centrifugal force” is not a real force. Explain why it might seem as though an object on a spinning disk
“feels” an outward force that seeks to fling it off the disk?
What provides the centripetal force in the Earth-Moon system?
Explain why there are TWO tidal bulges in the Earth-Moon system 
Why are consecutive high tides not six hours apart and not of the same magnitude (ignore Moon motion
here)?
Why is each consecutive 24-hour tidal cycle offset by 50 minutes?
Why can’t the “tidal bulge” travel across the surface of the planet at the velocity that the moon moves?
Explain why “astronomical tide tables” are likely going to miss the actual tide times in places such as
Beaufort, NC