Like how does it shrink and expand?
In: Physics
This is long but
It just moves to another side of whatever sea or ocean it is a part of following the moon. Imagine a bowl halfway full of water. Now take that bowl and tilt it to one side. The water seems to rise towards that side and lowers on the other, sinking away. Tilt in the opposite direction. The water reacts similarly, with a high tide situation on the other side and a low tide situation on the original side.
To paint a better picture, though, since our Earth isn’t flat (Fight me.) keep the idea of water out of your mind for a second. Imagine a rubber band around your wrist. When you pull it away from your arm without pulling it off, you create space. Fill the space with water. This is a high tide.
Imagine having a ball and a rubber band. Set the ball on a flat surface in the middle of the rubber band, replacing your arm. Pull from both sides so that the rubber band stretches enough to touch the ball on two sides. Those two sides are low tide . the stretched sides are still high tide. The moon’s gravitational force is the pulling you’re doing, squeezing the water into the stretched out spaces.
Move your right hand closer to the ball and your left hand further away, just slightly. Your left hand represents your moon side. The tide is higher (holds more water) than any other place on this side because the pull from the Moon is strongest. The opposite side still has a high tide, though because your low tides are found where the band touches the ball.
It gets deeper than this. We can talk about those things when you’re 7, though.
Sorry in advance for format, etc. I’m on mobile. Edit to illustrate high tide on two opposite sides and for clarity.
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