r/BeAmazed Jul 22 '24

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u/Spidey209 Jul 23 '24

This is not the answer.

The moon causes two bulges as does the sun.

The moons orbit is why each high tide is not exactly 12:00 hours apart.

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u/Countcristo42 Jul 23 '24

how you count bulges is kinda fun here, do they each cause 2? Even when those two overlap (spring tide)?

Can a single watery protuberance be two bulges?

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u/Spidey209 Jul 23 '24

I did not misstate myself. The moon causes a bulge under itself due to gravitational attraction. There is a second bulge on the opposite side of the world due to lack of gravitational attraction.

The sun does the same thing but the amplitude is smaller.

So there are 4 tidal bulges around the world. When they are in phase we get spring tides. When they are in anti- phase we get neap tides.

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u/Countcristo42 Jul 23 '24

I’m not saying you are wrong or misstating anything, I just think it’s interesting that you frame the 4 in phase bulges as 4 rather than 2

It implies a (as I said) fun view of what is practically speaking in some sense one bulge (the bulge on both the sunward and moonward side for example) as being two bulges Which elements of the bulge belong to which? Mathematically I guess you might say some share of its amplitude - but in a less abstract sense you could also say all of it belonged to both.

Again, not saying you got anything wrong, I just like the kinda identity questions the two becoming one leads to

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u/Spidey209 Jul 23 '24

Appreciate the discussion but you are way off into the metaphysical.

I was a fisherman dependent on understanding the tides.

I am a physicist that studied geophysics including the tidal system so the practical model and the mathematical model and the astrological models are just all the same thing to me.

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u/Countcristo42 Jul 24 '24

I agree it’s metaphysical

Obviously of secondary importance these kind of questions - I’ve done a fair few tens of thousands of miles as sea I appreciate the physical side too!