Eli5: how does the moon affect low and hightide of the ocean which is pretty heavy but does not cause other things which are lighter to start floating?

Question

Eli5: how does the moon affect low and hightide of the ocean which is pretty heavy but does not cause other things which are lighter to start floating?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Small object are attracted by moon but the affect is too small so the movement isn’t visible, there isn’t gravitational force between them. However due to the combined mass of water in ocean enough gravitational force is created that can be visible.

That’s why small water bodies like rivers, lakes don’t have tides.