9. How does the moon cause tides?
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Since the moon has a significant gravitational effect on bodies at Earth-moon distances, the moon can cause varying tides on the Earth's surface. When the moon is closest to a particular region of the Earth's surface the gravitational attraction of the moon causes a pulling of the Earth's oceans towards the moon giving us tides. As the Earth rotates throughout the day this effect occurs on different parts of the Earth's surface giving us high and low tides. |
| Photos by R. Hawkes |