Why is the Moon twice as effective as the Sun in the production of tides, although the Sun's gravitational pull on the Earth is 180 times stronger?

Question

I need help with my Physical Science challenge.

Answer 1

Tides are a result of the differences between the gravitational attractions of another body on the near and far sides of the Earth. Due to the moon being much closer to the Earth than the Sun, the effect of the radius of the Earth on the attractions due to gravity makes the difference of gravity from the moon greater than the difference of gravity from the Sun.

 

Here are the numbers:

For the Sun:

attraction on NEAR side of Earth = 3.540 x 10^28 N

attraction on FAR side of Earth = 3.534 x 10^28 N

DIFFERENCE = 6 x 10^24 N

 

For the Moon:

attraction on NEAR side of Earth = 2.120 x 10^26 N
attraction on FAR side of Earth = 1.978 x 10^26 N
DIFFERENCE = 1.42 x 10^25 N

 

The tidal effect of the Moon is about 2.36 times as much as the Sun!

Answer 2

The moon is closer to the Earth than the Sun is even though the Sun is more massive than the moon. The moon has a greater effect on the Earth's tides.

Answer 3

If you calculate the ratio of distances between Earth and the Sun, and between Earth and the Moon, you will find it is almost 390. When it comes to tidal effects size of the planet (Earth) and its distances from the sources of gravitation (Sun and Moon) matters. Earth's diameter divided by astronomical unit (average distance between Earth and the Sun) is 1/11773, while the ratio of the Earth diameter to the Earth-Moon distance is almost 1/30. For that reason, and also because of difference in masses of the Sun and the Moon, solar tidal effects is almost twice weaker compared with lunar tides. Just enough to apply the Newton's law of universal gravitation

 

                                F = G Mm/r²

 

(where M and m are two interacting masses, r - distance between them, G - constant of gravitation) to the Sun-Earth and Earth-Moon systems. You have to calculate the force of gravitation at two opposite points on the Earth's surface the one of which faces the Sun/Moon.

Answer 4

En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_acceleration might help.