Question

When does neap tides occur
a) During quarter moons
b) During full moons
c) During new moons
d) During half moons

Answer 1

Hint: Neap tides are the tides where there is a smaller difference between high tides and the low tides.

Complete answer:
To begin with let us see the general definition of tide.
The word tide means when the moon and the sun attraction causes the sea levels to rise and fall. The moon's gravitational force literally pulls on the Earth’s surface, all its oceans with various levels of strength.

Neap tides are also known as the weak tides. This is because they are very small compared to the highest high tide possible i.e. spring tides. The neap tides occur when there is a right angle between the sun and the moon hence the gravitational pull at this point is the weakest on the earth. Therefore we will draw the diagram of the moon at different positions with respect to the earth and accordingly classify the moon from the options provided.

The diagram above shows that when the moon and the sun are at right angles the pull on the surface of the Earth is very less. As the moon lies on the first quarter position and the last quarter position the neap tides occur during quarter moons.

So, the correct answer is “Option A”.

Note:
Spring tides are defined as the highest possible tides. These occur when the sun and the moon lie at the same angle. These occur on the new moon day and the full moon day. On the new moon day the moon and the sun lie on the same side resulting in the gravitational pull on the surface of the Earth to be maximum than any other position. The diagrams below depict the following scenario.