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Assume the Moon is setting now. Is it high or low tide?

(ignore the 1-2 hour delay in the arrival of the tide.)

1 Answer

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Final answer:

If the Moon is setting, it corresponds to the occurrence of low tide at that specific location. Tides are affected by the Moon's gravitational pull, with two high and two low tides each day due to Earth's rotation through tidal bulges created by the Moon.

Step-by-step explanation:

Assuming the Moon is setting now, and ignoring the 1-2 hour delay in the arrival of the tide, it would typically be low tide at your location. The Moon exerts a gravitational pull on Earth's waters and creates bulges on both the near side and the far side, which we experience as high tides. As Earth rotates through these bulges, high tides occur approximately every 12.5 hours, with a low tide happening about six hours after a high tide. When the Moon is setting, one of the high tides is on the opposite side of Earth, leading to low tide at the location where the Moon is setting.

Additionally, the position of the Moon in the sky is related to its phase. For example, if the Moon rises at 3:00 p.m., it would be approximately at the first quarter phase, since it is about one week into its orbit around Earth and rising around noon. When the Moon is the highest in the sky at sunrise, it would likely be at or near its full phase, since the full moon generally rises at sunset.

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