Question

The Sun is on the right and Moon is on the left. The Earth is between the Sun and Moon. High tide and low tide are labeled on the Earth. An arrow pointing from the Earth to the Moon shows the gravitational pull of the Moon. Look at the image. Which statement explains what would most likely happen if the moon were closer to Earth?

(a) Tides would become weaker.
(b) Tides would become stronger.
(c) There would be no impact on tides.
(d) Currents would reverse direction.

Answer 1

If the Moon were closer to Earth, the tides would become stronger because the gravitational force would be greater, leading to larger tidal bulges and more extreme high and low tides.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is related to the gravitational effects of the Moon on Earth's ocean tides. If the Moon were closer to Earth, tides would become stronger. This is because the strength of the gravitational force between two objects is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. With less distance, the Moon's gravitational force on Earth's oceans would increase, resulting in greater differential forces and thus more pronounced tidal bulges. This would lead to more extreme high and low tides.

Earth and the Moon's mutual gravitational attraction causes the water on the side of Earth closest to the Moon to experience a stronger pull than the water on the far side, creating high tides on both sides as Earth rotates. The gravitational force exerted by the Moon varies across Earth's surface due to the difference in distance, which causes the differential forces and leads to two high tides and two low tides each day.