So, I’m aware that tides are caused by the Moon’s gravity acting on the surface of the earth. That said, tidal forces move an obscene amount of matter from point A to point B and back to point A again. Where does that energy come from that doesn’t break the first law of thermodynamics? Followup question: If we harvest energy from the system using turbines or something similar, what effect does that have on the system?
In: Physics
Imagine that the moon was a big magnet and the water on earth was iron. Now imagine the moon orbiting around the earth, pulling all that water into peaks with it as it rotates (the gravity of earth’s core, of course, keeps it on the surface still) and as the earth and moon orbit the sun. When the water hits land somewhere the magnet just lets go and the tide recedes, and as it finds water again it pulls. All these forces are easier to imagine when you think of them on a small scale and then realize how big the scale truly is, and that it’s all moving, sometimes in opposite of each other.
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