Question
Why are tides delayed everyday by 56 minutes ?
Solution
Tides occur twice a day and their interval is not exactly 12 hours but it is 12 hours and 25 minutes. The relative position of the moon and the earth is responsible for this variation. As we see in Fig. 14.5 the moon first appears at 1 and a part of the earth is under high tides. On second day, the moon has moved ahead at the position 2. To bring a place at the position 2, the earth will take an extra time of 50 minutes and hence this 50 minutes extra time delays the tides every day.
