Why does the moon have gravitational power to create tides, but not to lift any other objects?

Question

If the moon creates the tides, why don’t any other objects get lifted by its gravitational pull?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

I got the actual answer right here!!

Tides are based on the difference of gravitational pull on opposite sides of the planet. The moon pulls water on the side of the earth closer to the moon MORE than the farside, which creates a bulges on opposite sides of the earth (high tide) with squeezed sections in between (low tide).

Why doesn’t the Sun create bigger tides than the moon, it’s gravity is bigger right? It’s because the key is not the strength of the pull, but in the change of that pull across the earth. This effect is more pronounced for closer objects (goes by R^3 rather than R^2 for those that care), so the moon dominates over the sun.

None of these forces are strong enough to overcome Earth’s pull and ‘lift’ things, but it can squeeze them.