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Scroll to the top to read the lesson document titled "The Sun, Moon & Tides" . Under the heading "Monthly Patterns" you can read the meaning of Spring Tides and Neap Tides to help answer this question.

A student collects data on spring and neap tides, in feet, on four different days of the same year in Anchorage, Alaska. The graphs of her data are shown to the left.

Based on the data given, which statement is true about the tides?
September 9 and 24 represent neap tides due to the added gravitational pull of the Moon.
September 9 and 24 represent spring tides due to the added gravitational pull of the Sun.
September 16 and October 2 represent neap tides due to the added gravitational pull of the Moon.
September 16 and October 2 represent spring tides due to the added gravitational pull of the Sun.

1 answer

To determine which statement is true about the tides based on the data collected, we need to remember the definitions of spring and neap tides:

  • Spring Tides occur when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned, resulting in higher high tides and lower low tides. This typically happens during the new moon and full moon phases.
  • Neap Tides occur when the Sun and Moon are at right angles to each other, resulting in lower high tides and higher low tides. This typically happens during the first and third quarter moon phases.

Based on the provided information suggesting that the data is collected from four different days (September 9, September 16, September 24, and October 2), we need to analyze the tidal patterns for these dates:

  • September 9 and September 24 would likely correspond to full or new moon phases, indicating that these are the days of spring tides.
  • September 16 and October 2 would correspond to the first or third quarter of the moon phases, indicating they are likely to represent neap tides.

Given this reasoning, the correct interpretation of statements about the tides is:

  • September 9 and 24 represent spring tides due to the added gravitational pull of the Sun.

So, the statement "September 9 and 24 represent spring tides due to the added gravitational pull of the Sun" is the true statement based on the characteristics of spring and neap tides.