Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Earth, Moon, and Sun Questions

Recently, we learned about what causes high and low tides, and the difference between spring and neap tides. Do you remember the tides? We've also learned about planetary motion, the cause of seasons (generally how it's been so cold lately!), and the phenomena of moon phases and eclipses (both solar and lunar). Phew! That's a lot of stuff. The audience of this blog must be imparted with this knowledge as well. Give it to them, Crazies.
The following scenarios and questions are actually part of your standard check of these concepts. This is the short answer/essay portion. You may think about them, prepare for them, and actually answer them if you'd like to type out your answer in a comment. (Otherwise, you will write your answers out in class on Monday.)
Scenario 1:
Using these pictures and the following info, attempt to answer the numbered questions.

  • Both pictures were taken from the same exact spot (The zoom for both snapshots was the same, too). The picture on the left was taken at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The picture on the right was taken 5 1/2 hours later, at 7:30 pm.
  • The moon phase on this particular day was a "New Moon".
Question 1: What causes high tides and low tides? On the day the picture was taken, was there a Spring or Neap tide? If so, which one?

Scenario 2: The moon is closer to the Earth than it actually is. Normally the moon is approximately 240,000 miles away. In this scenario, the moon is only 160,000 miles away.

Question 2: What would happen to the length of time it takes our moon to progress through all of its phases (from new moon back to another new moon)? Would the length of our month be longer, shorter, or the same? Why? (Hint: Use your knowledge of Kepler's Laws to answer this one.)

Scenario 3: The Earth's axis is not tilted. It normally tilts at a 23.5 degree angle. In this scenario, there is no tilt (0 degrees).

Question 3: Would we experience a change of seasons if Earth’s axis was not tilted? In your answer, be sure to include at least two factors that cause winter temperatures to be colder than summer temps, and why this seasonal change in temperature would or would not be felt if Earth's axis was not tilted.

12 comments:

Nick R. and Cole H. said...

1) The cause of high and low tides is the gravitational pulls of the moon and sun. It is a spring tide.
2) It would take the moon a shorter time to go through its phases. The months would be shorter, because the gravitational pull is stronger.
3) Yes we would not have not seasons, because the sun's rays would be at a constant angle and amount of energy. The reason the winter is colder is because of the tilt on the Earth's axis.

Mariah H. said...

1. Tides are created by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. Tides on this day were spring.
2. The length of our month would be longer. It would be longer because we would have longer days and nights.
3.No, summer temps are warmer because we receive more direct sunlight and earth is tilted toward the sun. It is reverse for the northern hemishpere these would not be felt cause earth would not change temperatures.

Helean b said...

In scenario there is a high spring time. Tides are caused by te gravitational pull from the earth also with help of the sun. In scenario our months and days would be the exact same since our days are caused by the moon rotating so it wouldn't affect anything relating to moon phases. For scenario 3 we would not have seasons because the only reason we have seanains is because our earth is tilted at different times of th yearS so since our norterm hisphere is not tilted away from the sun we will not have Amy winter

Hh said...

1 the moons gravitational pull causes the tides. They were spring tides
2 It would be longer beecause the moon phases would be longer
3 no, there would be much harsher weather conditions.

Aditya and Alex Grimm said...

The reason why there is tides are because of the moon and it's pull on earth and the sun also helps. Usually occurs when full moon is there. The months would be shorter if the moon took so long. There wouldn't be any seasons because the earth is not tillted on its axis

Sierra Baum and Brooklyn VanDerWoulde (you can tell who typed what) said...

1. High tides are caused by when the moon eats uuuuuuu low tides r fro, when the sum eats uuuuuuuuu I kile cheese es mug Rico!!!!!!'mma.............tides are caused by the gravitational pull of mainly the moon, and the sun. The high tides are wher the moon is closest and the farthest spot from the moon. The pictures are taken during a spring tide.

2. Shorter cuz it is closer to earth so it orbits earth faster

3. No the seasons would b the same bcuz we would get an even amount of sunlight along with an even angle of sunlight all year round, because what cause our seasons is our tilted axis. Some times the northern hemisphere is pointed more towards the sun and other times the northern hemisphere points away. That gives us different angles of sunlight and different amounts of sunlight.

AllisonEmilyMakiah said...

1] The positions of the moon and the sun with the Earth. It's a spring high tide.
2] It would take the same time to go thru the phases because it would still rotate the same.
3] There wouldn't be any seasons because without a tilt there wouldn't be indirect and direct sunlight. It would be the same temperature and season pretty much all the time.

Josh Goehring said...

1. tides are cause by the gravitational pulls of the moon and the sun. The tide was a spring tide
2. the length of time it would take for the moon to revolve would be shorter because it would have to move faster to stay in orbit. The month would be shorter, because the month is based off the moon's phases.
3.None of the seasons would change because the angle of the sun's rays would never change angle. The position of the earth compared to the sun in the usual summer position and winter position wouldn't matter anymore.

Brooklynn McCaulley pd.3 said...

1.) High and Low Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun. There was a Spring Tide.

2.) It would take less time to progress through all of its phases.
Shorter; because since the moon is closer to the Earth it would take less time than usual to rotate around the Earth.

3.) No, because then the northern and southern would always have the same temperature. The Northern turns away from the sun for its winter, but then the southern tilts towards the sun. When the northern tilts towards the sun the southern tilts away from the sun. We also wouldn't really have a change because then we'd have the same constancy of indirect or direct sunlight.

Kristina and Jessica pd4 said...

1. the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. in the picture taken we think it is a spring high and low tide.
2. shorter because the moon would take less time to revolve around the Earth.
3. We wouldn't have seasons because (a) we would get no change in the directness in the sunlight and (b) the tilt causes the seasons and without it, we wouldn't have them.

Brady K., Andee C., and Katelyn C. said...

1.) High tides and low tides are caused by the moon and a little of the sun's gravity. On that day It was a spring tide

2.) Shorter, the loser to the Earth it is, the faster it rotates.

3.)The seasons would never change.We would never get any direct rays. There would be no tilt as well.

jon h. said...

1.moon and suns gravity. spring tide
2. we would have shorter months, same time for it to go though its phases
3. no seasons. when the earth tilts toward earth it is summer, meaning longer days and more direct sunlight. in the winter the earth is tilted away from the sun and shorter days and less direct sunlight.

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