I understand why the side closest to the moon would have a tidal “bulge,” but why on the opposite side of the planet as well?
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If every atom on earth was being pulled up to the moon by an equal amount, there would be no tides.
As others have mentioned, near/far sides do have a slightly different amount of pull, and that accounts for some of the bulge – but its only half the picture.
Everything is pulled up almost equally, but the stuff on the left is pulled to the right, and the stuff on the right is pulled to the left – so it’s not just stretching it out lengthways, but it’s also pushing it in sideways.
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