Question

Each day how many high and low tides are there?
A. 2 high tides and 2 low tides
B. 1 high tide and 2 low tides
C. 2 high tides and 1 low tide
D. 1 high tide and 1 low tide

Answer 1

Hint: Tides are one of the most predictable natural phenomena on the planet. As the sun rises in the east and the stars appear at night, we are confident that the ocean waters will rise and fall along our shores regularly.

Complete answer:
Tides are very long-period waves that move through the oceans in response to the moon and sun's forces. Tides form in the oceans and travel to the coasts, where they manifest as the regular rise and fall of the sea surface. High tide occurs when the highest part of the wave, or its crest, reaches a specific location; low tide occurs when the lowest part of the wave, or its trough, reaches that location.

The difference in height between high and low tide is referred to as the tidal range.The moon is responsible for high and low tides. The tidal force is caused by the moon's gravitational pull. The tidal force causes Earth—and its water—to bulge out on the sides closest to and farthest from the moon. These water bulges are caused by high tides.

There are three basic tidal patterns in the world: semidiurnal, mixed, and diurnal. A semidiurnal tide occurs when both high tides are roughly equal to each other and both low tides are roughly equal to each other. A lunar day (also known as a "tidal day") is the amount of time it takes for a specific location on Earth to rotate from one exact point under the moon to the same point under the moon.

A lunar day, on the other hand, is 24 hours and 50 minutes long, as opposed to a solar day. Because the moon revolves around the Earth in the same direction that the Earth rotates around its axis, the lunar day is 50 minutes longer than the solar day. So, it takes the Earth an extra 50 minutes to “catch up” to the moon.

Coastal areas experience two high and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes because the Earth rotates through two tidal "bulges" every lunar day. High tides occur every 12 hours and 25 minutes. The water at the shore takes six hours and 12.5 minutes to go from high to low, or from low to high. So, Every lunar day, or 24 hours and 50 minutes, there are two low tides and two high tides.

Thus, the answer is option A.

Note: Tidal phenomena are not limited to the oceans, but can occur in any system with a varying gravitational field in time and space. The shape of the solid part of the Earth, for example, is slightly affected by Earth tide, though this is not as visible as water tidal movements.