Question

Sheila lives in the seashore community of Beachview. At 6:00 a.m. one morning, she noticed that the local ocean water was at high tide. At approximately noon that same day, she noticed the water was at low tide.
Which of the following describes what caused the change in tides between 6:00 a.m. and noon that day?
A.
The Earth completed one full rotation (360°), and the gravitational attraction between the Moon and the Beachview area increased.
B.
The Earth rotated approximately 90°, and the gravitational attraction between the Moon and the Beachview area decreased.
C.
The Earth revolved approximately 90° around the Sun, and the gravitational attraction between the Moon and Sun increased.
D.
The Earth completed one full revolution around the Sun (360°), and the gravitational attraction between the Moon and Sun decreased.

Answer 1

This change in tides is because

B.  The Earth rotated approximately 90°, and the gravitational attraction between the Moon and the Beachview area decreased.

Explanation:

Let us first understand what is tide - Tide is rise and fall in water levels in sea due to combined impact of gravitational force exerted by the sun, the moon and the earth.

Mainly tide is impacted by moon. There are two types of tide - high tide and low tide.

High tide - side of earth which is closest to and farthest from the moon experiences high tide.

Low tide - areas of earth which do not fall in either of two categories mentioned above, experiences low tide.

It takes approximate 6 hours for a high tide to change into low tide. During this time, earth makes a quarter angle turn away from moon.