Question

Spring tides don’t only happen in the spring season. A spring tide occurs each time the Earth, sun, and moon line up with one another. This alignment causes the gravitational pull of the moon and sun to combine, creating tides that are higher than normal.

Examine the tide table below that shows tide data for the month of June:


image 9bceb5d17fa941768631db4303969dae

Choose the response below that demonstrates the correct alignment of the sun, the Earth, and the moon that would create a spring tide, as well as the corresponding graph of the data from the table that shows a spring tide occurring.


image 32227d5531574337b57eb9388b17f264 image 72fc4bd4288948928b64501d084535c7


image ae3f9f0c18ba4e77b97d01a8ee710bfc image a5e1c0703cd7456e89fa20ed03d34365


image 1436ba5c3fd84044984118c2782ae2fe image b35e950fd2024c6c8827560fcaa761f7


image 63114189839a46d49c2f97a7a43cc8d1 image 84543c75fb2747b0b55fdbcfe30c8902

Answer 1

Pick the pair that shows (1) the Sun, Earth and Moon in a straight line (either Moon between Sun and Earth — new moon — or Earth between Sun and Moon — full moon) and (2) the graph that has the largest tidal range (the highest high tides and the lowest low tides).

Reason: spring tides occur when the Sun and Moon’s gravity align and reinforce each other (colinear alignment), producing higher high tides and lower low tides than normal. The correct response is the image pair that shows that straight-line alignment and the graph with the biggest amplitude.