by Chris Peterson » Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:06 pm
Kevin_Hall wrote: ↑Thu Jan 06, 2022 6:56 pm
I may have lost my mind, but I have no clue about how the ebb and flow work. Well, I understand that Moon attracts water, which is more elastic than the earth. Hump A on the top of Earth is formed. But how does hump B on the opposite side form?
The Moon does not "attract water" any differently than it attracts rock. The water is more deformable, so it forms a kind of oblate sphereoid (which it would do it there was only water, and no earth at all). The solid(ish), much less deformed body of the planet is centered in this deformed water body.
[quote=Kevin_Hall post_id=319674 time=1641495417 user_id=146311]
I may have lost my mind, but I have no clue about how the ebb and flow work. Well, I understand that Moon attracts water, which is more elastic than the earth. Hump A on the top of Earth is formed. But how does hump B on the opposite side form?
[/quote]
The Moon does not "attract water" any differently than it attracts rock. The water is more deformable, so it forms a kind of oblate sphereoid (which it would do it there was only water, and no earth at all). The solid(ish), much less deformed body of the planet is centered in this deformed water body.