Most coastal areas on Earth experience two high tides and two low tides every lunar day. What is a lunar day? Our days on Earth are 24-hour solar days, the time that it takes for a specific site on the Earth to rotate from an exact point under the sun to the same point under the sun. A lunar day is the time it takes for a specific site on the Earth to rotate from an exact point under the moon to the same point under the moon. A lunar day is 24 hours and 50 minutes. That means a lunar day is 50 minutes longer than a solar day.

Question

If the first low tide occurs at 5:10 AM on Friday, when will the next low tide occur?
Responses

A 5:10 AM Saturday5:10 AM Saturday

B 5:10 PM Friday5:10 PM Friday

C 5:35 PM Friday5:35 PM Friday

D 6:00 PM Friday

Answer 1

To find the next low tide after the first low tide at 5:10 AM on Friday, we need to consider the tidal cycle. Most coastal areas experience two high tides and two low tides approximately every lunar day (which is about 24 hours and 50 minutes).

Since it’s a tidal cycle, the next low tide would occur after roughly half of the lunar day (which is about 12 hours and 25 minutes later).

Starting from 5:10 AM on Friday:

1. Add 12 hours: 5:10 AM + 12:00 = 5:10 PM Friday.
2. Add 25 minutes: 5:10 PM + 0:25 = 5:35 PM Friday.

So, the next low tide will occur at 5:35 PM on Friday.

Therefore, the correct answer is:

C 5:35 PM Friday.