Eli5:How come some days will have two high tides and two low tides whereas other days have one high tide and two low tides?

Question

Eli5:How come some days will have two high tides and two low tides whereas other days have one high tide and two low tides?

In: 0

Answer 1

Both the sun and the moon have a gravitational influence on the earth and make the seawater rise a few meters in the place where this gravity is the strongest.

Imagine these bulges of water fixed in place to stay pointed at the moon / sun and the earth is rotating through it daily, causing high/low tides.

Because the moon and sun are not always in the same position relative to each other the bulges move around as well and sometimes might overlap, causing a single (super) low/high tide instead of two normal ones.