Thread: The distinction between planets and moons
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Old 04-September-2006, 12:50 AM
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Originally Posted by Leiningen
Okay, now I have an unrelated question: The gravitational pull of the sun regarding the orbit of Luna is bigger than the gravitational pull of the Earth, which is why Luna's orbit is always concave towards the sun. But why are the tidal forces caused by Luna regarding the oceans on Earth bigger than the tidal forces caused by the sun?
Because tidal forces decrease with the fourth power of distance while gravity decreases with the 2nd power.
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