in the java applet, the moon was directly above the high tide. i don't think that is right. the moon is nearer above low tide.

That's because the Moon is going round the earth every twenty-eight days, but the Earth is spinning every twenty-four hours. The tidal bulge created by the pull of the Moon's gravity is pulled ahead of the Moon by the Earth's rotation, hence the Moon does not lie exactly over the high tide but rather lags behind.

This is slowing the Earth's rotation (the bulge is being dragged by the Moon), and causing the Moon to recede (the bulge is also dragging the Moon, pulling it forward and into a slightly higher orbit). Eventually this will result in the entire system becoming locked so that one side of Earth always faces the Moon as well as one side of the Moon always facing Earth. This situation has already occurred in the Pluto/Charon system.

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"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common: They don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views." The Doctor, Doctor Who: The Face of Evil.