13. Does the sun or the moon have the greatest effect on the oceans on earth?

Answer 1

the Moon

why?

the Sun has a greater gravitational pull on Earth, than the Moon does.

but what matters are tidal forces, i.e. the difference in how strong the body pulls on the side of the Earth closer to it, and the other side, further from it.

in the case of the Sun, which is very far, the difference in the force on the side of the Earth facing the Sun, and that facing away, is tiny

whereas in the case of the Moon, which is of course much smaller but also much, much closer, that difference is quite important

therefore, on the Earth, the tidal forces from the Moon are massively higher than those from the Sun

which is why the Moon controls tides

Answer 2

The Moon has a greater effect. While the gravitational effect of the Sun is far greater than that of the Moon, the Moon is a heck of a lot closer to Earth than the Sun, so its gravitational effect has more impact on our oceans than the Sun does.

Answer 3

The moon does. The sun keeps the earth as a whole spinning around, but the moon has an effect on the lighter stuff- water.

Answer 4

The moon mainly effects the ocean tides, twice daily. The sun has some but very little effect.

Answer 5

The moon raises one of the daily tides.

The rotation of the Earth-Moon system about its centre of mass raises the other.

The sun has almost no effect - its too far away.

Answer 6

The Sun. Gravitational forces aside, the heat from sun is responsible for wind, rain and all the powerful storms on our dynamic oceans.

Answer 7

Moon.

Answer 8

the moon. its gravitational pull creates the tides (even in large bodies of water other than oceans)

Answer 9

the moon because of its gravitational pull it effects the tides.

Answer 10

the moon controls the tides