Tides Webquest

Part I: Background on Tides

Begin your information search by using your textbook and accessing
http://www.nos.noaa.gov/education/tides/welcome.html
As you read through the tutorial, answer the questions below that correspond to each
section of the tutorial.

What are Tides?
1. What is a basic definition of a tide?
Waves that have a gravitational pull from the sun and moon
2. What is a high tide? What is a low tide?
High tide is the tide at its highest point, and low tide is the wave and its lowest point
3. What is tidal range?
The length between high and low tide
What Causes Tides?
6. Tides are caused by the gravitational attraction of what two celestial bodies?
The sun and moon
7. What does Newtons law of universal gravitational state?
It states that any two bodies in the universe attract each other with a force that Is
directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the
product of their masses and the distance between them.
8. Which celestial body has a greater effect on tidal forces on Earth?
The moon has a stronger gravitational pull
Gravity, Inertia, and the Two Bulges

9. How does the moon create a bulge?
It creates a bulge because of the gravitational pull, the moon pulls the water towards
itself, but the inertia of the water attempts to keep the water in place.
10. What causes a bulge to be created on the opposite side of the Earth or the far
side from the moon?
Because the moon is farther away.
Changing Angles and Changing Tides
11. Describe how changes in the relative positions of the moon and sun change in
relation to the Earth?
As the moon revolves around the Earth its angle increases and decreases around the
equator,
12. At what point is the sun at its minimum declination and its maximum declination?
Minimum is March 21-septemeber 23; maximum is June 21-december 22
Frequency of Tides - The Lunar Day
15. Compare and contrast a solar and lunar day. How long is a lunar day?
A solar day is the length it takes the sun to cross 2 meridians, a lunar is 27.3 days and
it rotates and revolves.
16. Why do most coastal areas experience two high tides and two low tides?
Because of tidal bulges
17. How long does it take for high tide to occur? How long is the time between low
and high tide?
High tides take 12 hours and 25 minutes apart, to change from high to low tide it
takes 6 hours 12.5 minutes.
Tidal Variations - The Influence of Position and Distance
18. What causes spring tides? What causes neap tides? How many spring and neap
tides occur in a lunar month?
Spring tides happen when the sun, earth, and moon are aligned. Neap tides occur
when the sun earth and moon form a right angle, this creates there to be a
gravitational pull which then causes a change in high and low tides.

19. How are tide-generating forces affected when the moon is closest to the Earth (or
perigee)? when the moon is farthest away from the Earth (or apogee)? How does this
affect the tides that are produced?
The closer the moon is to the earth the stronger the gravitational pull is. This means
that the tides will be more intense because the moon is pulling the water with more
force. If the moon has a less gravitational pull the lower the tides will be.



20. How are tide-generating forces affected when the Earth is closest to the sun (or
perihelion)? when the Earth is farthest from the sun (or aphelion)? How does this
affect the tides that are produced?
When the Earth is closest to the sun, the tides range increase and when the earth is
farther away the tides lower.

What Affects Tides in Addition to the Sun and Moon?
21. How are the magnitudes of tides affected by shorelines? By mid-ocean islands?
Tides near shorelines are affected minutely, the shape changes them.
22. How does a funnel-shaped bay compare to a narrow inlet and shallow water?
They have very high tides compared to small tides in inlets and sounds.
23. What is the affect of strong tidal rivers on tides in estuaries?
Powerful river flows can mask the effects of tides, making it seem like they are
nonexistent.

24. What other abiotic factors affect tides? Compare and contrast wind and weather
patterns that affect tides.
Wind and weather patterns also affect tides as well as river currents. Wind can move
water from coast to coast giving it a high tide or low tide. Whenever the sky is
considered overcast the tides are usually higher than normal.