L16: Orbital III: Tides

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Total cards: 24•Content version: v4•Public deck•Updated: 8/1/2026

Card preview (24)

Front (Question)

how long does it take for the Earth to orbit around the sun?

Back (Answer)

365 days

Front (Question)

how long does it take for the Moon to orbit around the Earth?

Back (Answer)

27 days (lunar month)

Front (Question)

how long is a lunar month?

Back (Answer)

27 days

Front (Question)

when and who by was it proposed that ocean tides result from the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon on the oceans and Earth?

Back (Answer)

1687 by Sir Isaac Newton

Front (Question)

what does Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation state?

Back (Answer)

that the gravitational attraction between 2 bodies is directly proportional to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the bodies

Front (Question)

the greater the mass of objects and the closer they are to each other, the … the gravitational attraction between them

Back (Answer)

greater

Front (Question)

what are tidal generating forces based on?

Back (Answer)

the gravitational attractive force

Front (Question)

what dominates the tides?

Back (Answer)

the moon

Front (Question)

how many more times is the gravitational attraction between the Earth and sun compared to between the Earth and moon?

Back (Answer)

177

#10

Front (Question)

how many more times massive is the sun compared to our moon?

Back (Answer)

27 million

#11

Front (Question)

if tidal forces were based solely on comparative forces alone, how many more times greater would the tide generating force of the sun be compared to the moon?

Back (Answer)

27 million

#12

Front (Question)

how many more times is the sun further from the Earth than the moon?

Back (Answer)

390

#13

Front (Question)

how many times is the sun’s generating force reduced by compared to the moon because of its distance from the Earth?

Back (Answer)

59 million

#14

Front (Question)

what is the sun’s tide generating force compared to the moon?

Back (Answer)

27/59, about 1/2

#15

Front (Question)

is distance a more highly weighted variable in tidal generating forces or in the gravitational attractive force?

Back (Answer)

tidal generating forces

#16

Front (Question)

the sun has …% of the tide-generating force of the moon

Back (Answer)

#17

Front (Question)

what causes the tidal bulge towards the moon?

Back (Answer)

the gravitational effect of the moon on the Earth

#18

Front (Question)

what causes the tidal bulge on the opposite side of the Earth? (not towards the moon)

Back (Answer)

centrifugal force, inertial force directed away from the axis of rotation

#19

Front (Question)

how many tides are there usually per day?

Back (Answer)

#20

Front (Question)

the solid Earth is rotating within the … that contains … bulges

Back (Answer)

ocean 2

#21

Front (Question)

continents have a … effect on the way tides operate on the sea

Back (Answer)

disrupting

#22

Front (Question)

what are the 2 tides per day called?

Back (Answer)

the lunar semi-diurnal constituents

#23

Front (Question)

what is the name given to the high altitude component of the periodic change in tides?

Back (Answer)

spring tides

#24

Front (Question)

what is the name given to the smaller tides?

Back (Answer)

neap tides