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On which date is the gravitational force between Earth and the moon the greatest?

User Hornetbzz
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1 Answer

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The gravitational forces between the Earth and Moon are greatest when the two bodies are closest together. That happens every 27.32 days, when the Moon is at the perigee of its orbit.

Even if this happened at the same time in every orbit, the date would change, because there are not 27.32 days in a month.

But it doesn't happen at the same time in every orbit ... the Moon's perigee precesses around its orbit, on account of the gravitational forces toward the Earth, the Sun, Venus, Mars, and the other planets.

User Jeffrey Muller
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