How does the moon affect the tides?

Gravity is what makes the ocean tides happen. Gravity is the attractive force that all matter exerts on other matter, and it's what holds us to the Earth. All the matter that makes up the Earth attracts each other, and the result is that it pulls itself into this round ball, which we know as the globe. read more

Spring tides occur during the full moon and the new moon. Neap Tides During the moon's quarter phases the sun and moon work at right angles, causing the bulges to cancel each other. The result is a smaller difference between high and low tides and is known as a neap tide. Neap tides are especially weak tides. read more

During Earth's daily rotation, the moon's pull is the strongest at whichever spot is closest to the moon — so the water there bulges toward the moon. That explains one of the daily high tides. But each spot on Earth only becomes this close to the moon once a day, of course, so the other daily high tide must be caused by something else. read more