Tide Clocks: To make the best use of your VICTORIA HOUSE METAL WORKS Tide
Clock, you should understand a little about what causes the high and low tides. The
gravitational pull of the moon is the major cause of the tides. The "lunar day" (the time it
takes the moon to reappear at the same place in the sky) is 24 hours and 50 minutes and
some odd seconds. Most places have two high tides and two low tides each day. So the
Tide Clock hand rotates once every 12 hours and 25 minutes (twice each lunar day). The
Tide Clock stays in exact step with the moon. But, there are many other factors that can
make day-to-day tides a little earlier or later than the Tide Clock shows. The sun affects the
tides, but has less than half the influence of the moon. When the sun, moon and earth are
lined up, as they are at the time of a new moon or full moon, their influences combine and
the tides are higher than normal and low tide is lower than normal. When the sun and
moon are at right angles, as they are at the first quarter and last quarter of the moon, the
sun cancels some of the moon's effect and the range of tide is smaller than normal. At
these times the sun will make the tides somewhat earlier or later than average. This is
why it is so important to set your Tide Clock on the day of a full moon, because the moon
has the dominant effect on the tides.
Additional information regarding Pacific Coast and Gulf of Mexico tides: There are actually
two tidal cycles, a twice-daily cycle and a once-daily cycle. On a tide when the two cycles
help each other, high tides will be higher and low tides lower. On the next tide, when they
conflict the tidal range will be smaller. The relative strength of these two cycles varies from
week to week, and also varies from one place to another. In the United States, along the
Atlantic Coast the two daily tides have a similar range but on the northern Pacific Coast
there tends to be a large difference between the two daily tides. Farther south and in the
Gulf of Mexico, the difference is so great there often appears to be just one high and one
low tide per day. For this reason, our tide clocks find their greatest use on the Atlantic
Coast.
Clock, you should understand a little about what causes the high and low tides. The
gravitational pull of the moon is the major cause of the tides. The "lunar day" (the time it
takes the moon to reappear at the same place in the sky) is 24 hours and 50 minutes and
some odd seconds. Most places have two high tides and two low tides each day. So the
Tide Clock hand rotates once every 12 hours and 25 minutes (twice each lunar day). The
Tide Clock stays in exact step with the moon. But, there are many other factors that can
make day-to-day tides a little earlier or later than the Tide Clock shows. The sun affects the
tides, but has less than half the influence of the moon. When the sun, moon and earth are
lined up, as they are at the time of a new moon or full moon, their influences combine and
the tides are higher than normal and low tide is lower than normal. When the sun and
moon are at right angles, as they are at the first quarter and last quarter of the moon, the
sun cancels some of the moon's effect and the range of tide is smaller than normal. At
these times the sun will make the tides somewhat earlier or later than average. This is
why it is so important to set your Tide Clock on the day of a full moon, because the moon
has the dominant effect on the tides.
Additional information regarding Pacific Coast and Gulf of Mexico tides: There are actually
two tidal cycles, a twice-daily cycle and a once-daily cycle. On a tide when the two cycles
help each other, high tides will be higher and low tides lower. On the next tide, when they
conflict the tidal range will be smaller. The relative strength of these two cycles varies from
week to week, and also varies from one place to another. In the United States, along the
Atlantic Coast the two daily tides have a similar range but on the northern Pacific Coast
there tends to be a large difference between the two daily tides. Farther south and in the
Gulf of Mexico, the difference is so great there often appears to be just one high and one
low tide per day. For this reason, our tide clocks find their greatest use on the Atlantic
Coast.
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All Images on or linked directly to this page, and the designs they depict, are
Copyright ©1999-2008 Victoria House Metal Works. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright ©1999-2008 Victoria House Metal Works. All Rights Reserved.
Victoria House Metal Works
About Tide Clocks
About Tide Clocks
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