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Wed 31 Oct, 2012 02:20 am
The mass of the moon is the mass of the moon. The light of the sun shining fully upon it can't increase the mass.
I know I knew this when I was a kid, but I've forgotten!
@dlowan,
For the moon to be full the Earth has to be roughly between the moon abd the sun. The gravitational pull of the moon and the sun is combined in the same linear direction causing the effects on the water in the oceans (tides) to be greater.
A similar condition occurs at new moons when the sun and the moon are in a line on one side of the Earth.
Rap
@dlowan,
the gravitas of this question is astrocomical
Great quip there, Laughoutloud.
@Setanta,
Setanta wrote:
Great quip there, Laughoutloud.
She who laughs last laughs loudest.
Twas a sublunary quip......
@Setanta,
ur as ever 2kind, get sirius, utter lunacy i say, shazzam deborah
Quote:In the lunar month, the highest tides occur roughly every 14 days, at the new and full moons, when the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun are in alignment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_tide
Which reminds me--the Royal Navy always paid their officers according to the lunar year. Was that perhaps because the Admiralty were all loony? Which would, of course, be a bird of a different feather.
@raprap,
raprap-
Would the moon's gravitational force lift the water up? Would the sun's gravitational force push the water down?
When the sun and the moon are not in the same linear line, is the water pulled at an angle?
@gollum,
There are a lot of pictures, with captions, at this site which helps you visualize it. On one side or the earth the moon's gravity raises the tide, on the other inertia (centrifugal force).
https://www.google.com/search?q=tides&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwio_efC98PKAhVG4SYKHXxsCigQsAQIHA&biw=1097&bih=499
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