By Steve and Sandy Oliver on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 11:01 am: |
I'm almost embarrassed to ask this question, as I suspect any junior high school student should know the answer, but:
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By Antonio Ferrer on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 12:59 pm: |
The question is not simple at all. I don't know much about tides, but I know that there is a wide, wide variation in the amplitude of tides all over the World. The record tides seem to be in the Minas Basin of Nova Scotia (Bay of Fundy), but there are other huge tides. Mount Saint Michel, an Island/peninsula off Normandy, France, is very famous for becoming isolated at high tides. In the Mediterranean Sea, on the contrary, tides are minimal.
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By Bea and Marvin Jones on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 3:26 pm: |
I found http://www.co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/ which should be a good site. There was an "about" section at the bottom of the home page which included what causes tides (pull of the moon).
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By Jake Richter - NetTech on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 4:32 pm: |
Not a stupid question. From what I've seen, tidal activity becomes more noticable the further you get from the equator. Factors which have to do with tidal activity include the rotation of the Earth (centripedal and coriolis forces, if I recall correctly), seasonal axial tilt of the planet, as well as the moon.
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By Antonio Ferrer on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 6:35 pm: |
Jake, I think that local geography is also very important. Some channels and bays just seem to "funnel" the water creating large tides.
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By Antonio Ferrer on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 6:37 pm: |
Thank you, Bea and Marvin, I will lok into it
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By Steve and Sandy Oliver on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 8:10 pm: |
Very interesting site, Antonio - thank you!
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By Steve and Sandy Oliver on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 8:15 pm: |
Okay....weird science question #2:
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By Carole Baker on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 1:06 am: |
Was the air conditioning on or off? Carole
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By Andy Keely on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 1:40 am: |
Before we go any further down this path, Steve --- could you see your reflection in the mirror?
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By Steve and Sandy Oliver on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 9:00 am: |
Carole...the air conditioner was on, but it was a wall unit, and only in the main room.
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By Antonio Ferrer on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 10:30 am: |
Steve, assuming you could see your reflection in the mirror :-) there are only three possible causes for non-steaming of mirrors:
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By Sarah on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 2:44 pm: |
Location is a big factor as far as tides go, in that some parts of the Earth are closer to the moon than others "gravitational force". Then, of course there's the spring and neap tides which also have an effect on tidal activity. S
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By Anonymous on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 3:28 pm: |
and if you could not see your reflection, maybe one of the local blod sucking mosgitoees turned you into a vampire
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By Andy Keely on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 3:34 pm: |
Right. Having established that you could see your reflection Steve, I don't think you were having an "out of body experience".
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By Steve and Sandy Oliver on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 8:15 pm: |
Antonio...of your three possible solutions, only #2 is likely. This answer was also suggested by one of friends at Habitat...that the mirror itself is relatively warm (the bath was not air conditioned). Guess that the principle would be the same as the "dew point"...the temperature at which cooling air exceeds 100% humidity, and therefore the humidity condenses.
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By Steve and Sandy Oliver on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 8:17 pm: |
My apologies to Bea and Marvin Jones. I mistakenly gave Antonio credit for the excellent web site they suggested regarding the tides. (I must have had a similar lifestyle to Andy during the late 60's - I wish I could remember what it was).
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By Carole Baker on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 9:16 pm: |
Bitchin' and far out, man! Way to go, Dude. cb
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By Andy Keely on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 1:32 am: |
Just one last thought on the matter, Steve.
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By Dave Scott on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 8:02 am: |
soap film on mirror is a possibility,maybe even likely as it is hard to fully remove and transparent when dry, and very common in motel rooms.
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By Steve and Sandy Oliver on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 8:07 am: |
Hidden cameras in our Habitat room? hmmm...that would certainly explain the curious looks Jack gave us at breakfast one morning. ;)
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By Barry Baker on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 2:28 pm: |
A friend says the answer to such wide variations in tidal movements would also depend on whether or not the place being measured is an inlet or bay or is an island. Because an inlet or bay channels (or funnels) the water into a shallower and narrower area the tidal flow then becomes more dramatic than on an island where water would have a tendency to move around the island and not up and down the shore. Other factors such as equator and moon affect it also.
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By Antonio Ferrer on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 6:16 pm: |
There is a river in England (I think it is the Severn) which has a long estuary where spring tide reaches a considerable distance inland and, by the factors Barry mentions, gives an enormous tidal wave. I have never seen it myself, but I have a vague recollection of hearing stories about this Severn tide.
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By Hazel Scharosch on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 10:06 pm: |
...This sounds astonishingly like a fabulous, you guessed it, government grant in the making!!! I would be willing to sacrifice my work with students to properly research the phenomena. Of course, Boanire would be one of my study areas, as well as Bora Bora, which didn't seem to have a tide inside the lagoon at all, hmmm, strange and interesting. I think I'd like to visit that river in England, and Monterey Bay, CA as well.
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By Andy Keely on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 2:23 am: |
Yes Antonio. You're right it is the Severen (sometimes better known as the Tsunami!).
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