Tides are a topic that has captivated the attention of scientists since time immemorial. Galileo Galilei thought they were caused by the Earth's cycle around the sun while Johannes Kepler argued that high tides, not low tides, were produced by the effect of the moon. The first to give a solid answer to this issue was the English scientist Isaac Newton in his book 'Principia' (1687). There he explained that any two bodies attract each other and that the larger they are and the closer they are, the greater the attraction will be. Conversely, the further away and smaller they are, the less attraction there will be between them. This force, known as gravitational, is the weakest of the forces that exist in nature, although it is responsible for our weight, planetary orbits and the creation of stars, galaxies and planets. In addition, gravitational attraction is responsible for the moon and sun pulling the oceans towards them and the Earth bulging slightly, creating tides. Spring tides and neap tides Although both the sun and the moon exert an attraction on the water masses of our planet, they do so in a very different way. It must be taken into account that the moon is 400 times smaller than our star but is about 400 times closer to us. This last fact explains why the moon has a greater role over the masses of water and, consequently, is responsible for the tides. Now, if the moon and the sun are aligned, as happens in the new moon or the full moon, the two tides add up - they are in the same direction -, a phenomenon known as spring tides. On the contrary, when they pull in different directions the forces counteract each other, which is called a neap tide. The origin of the tides occurs in the interior of the oceans, from where their effect extends towards the coastal coastlines: if it rises towards the coast it is known as flow, while when the water returns to the sea due to gravitational force it is called flow. Reflux. Two high tides and two low tides Throughout the day there are two high tides (moment in which the tide reaches maximum height) and two low tides (moment of lowest intensity), that is, two flows of water towards the coast and two ebbs of water towards the oceanic interior. High tides and low tides occur with a difference of 12 hours and 25 minutes, so that the semi-period of the tide – the time between high tide and low tide – lasts 6 hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds. In Román Paladino, from one day to the next the tide fluctuates in approximately fifty minutes. Another important aspect to keep in mind is that the solid part of our planet also feels the forces of the tides, although we are not aware of it, that is, twice a day our ground rises and falls about thirty centimeters. There are no tides in the Mediterranean Sea. The lunar gravity is so weak that tides are not perceived either in lakes or in small seas, such as the Mediterranean. In the sandy areas of this latter environment it has been determined that the difference between high tide and low tide can be about thirty centimeters, a value that obviously goes completely unnoticed by us. MORE INFORMATION news No satirical Nobel for a Spanish study on how the sex life of anchovies stirs up the ocean news No NASA is finally beginning to take UFOs seriously news Yes A time capsule revives the lost history of the Spanish Jews This minimal effect is also observed in other seas, such as the Caribbean or Japan, where the distribution of the islands prevents the formation of tides.
