What is the time gap in occurrence of two successive tides at a given place on the ocean surface?
12 hours
12 hours 26 minutes
24 hours
24 hours 52 minutes
Answer is Right!
Answer is Wrong!
This question was previously asked in
UPSC NDA-1 – 2019
– The Earth completes a rotation relative to the Sun in 24 hours (a solar day).
– However, the Moon also orbits the Earth in the same direction as Earth’s rotation. For a point on Earth to return to the same position relative to the Moon, it takes slightly longer than a solar day, approximately 24 hours and 50 minutes (a lunar day).
– There are usually two high tides and two low tides in one lunar day (semidiurnal tides).
– Therefore, the time between two successive high tides (or low tides) is about half a lunar day, which is approximately 12 hours and 25 minutes or 12 hours and 26 minutes.