Tides in the sea, depending on the water, are influenced principally by the moon and, to some extent, the sun. Moon’s Influence: Gravity pull is force exerted by the moon on the earth and since water is liquid it is going to be pulled more so than the land. This leads to a buildup in water on the side of the Earth that faces the moon leading to a high tide. Opposite Bulge: On the opposite side of the earth, there is also a second, though less pronounced, rise or ‘bump’. As this takes place, the Earth is grazed slightly more by the moon than the water on the side away from it, hence creating another high tide. It is this centrifugal force because of this orbit that also helps in the formation of the second bulge since the earth and the moon orbit around a point of gravity known as the barycenter. This is the reason why we have two high tides and two low tides practically within one tidal day, which is approximately equal to 24 hours and 50 minutes. Solar Tides: Similarly, the sun exercises pressure on the earth through gravity, though it’s considerably less than the force exerted by the moon. This happens when the gravitational force of the moon augments that of the sun during the full moon and new moon, leading to higher high tides and low tides known as spring tides. Neap Tides: At the first quarter or third quarter, the force exerted by the sun balances that of the moon and since the force of gravity determines the heights, there are low high tides and high low tides referred as neap tides.