Physics 104 Section 3

January 27, 2019

1 Problems
The tides
As a nice example of working in a non-inertial frame, we will understand, in a simplified picture,
the tides on earth. Tides, as you probably know, are the rising and falling of sea levels due to
the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon, as well as the rotation of the earth. We shall
assume that the oceans completely cover the earth (that is, no land mass).

(a) It turns out (we will actually show later) that the moon contributes to this effect more than
the sun, and thus we shall at the present ignore the sun. By working in the center of mass
frame of the earth, what is an intuitive explanation of the presence of two high tides?
In the center of mass frame of the earth, the ocean closest to the moon will bulge out
towards, because as it is closer to the moon than the center of the earth it will feel a greater
gravitational attraction. Similarly, since the center of the earth is closer to the moon than the
ocean farthest away from the moon, then the center of the earth will feel a greater attraction
toward the moon, and so from its point of view the ocean farthest away from the moon will
also bulge out away from the earth. This is an intuitive explanation for why we have two
high tides.

(b) Working in the frame of the earth, what is the force on a mass m near the earth’s surface?
Call the net non-gravitational force Fng . What is an example?
A mass m near the earth’s ocean feels the gravitational force of the earth, mg, the gravita-
tional force of the moon, −GMm md̂/d2 , and the net non-gravitational force (for example,
~ of the earth’s center is
the buoyancy force). The acceleration A

d̂0
A = −GMm (1.1)
d20

Therefore, remembering that we are in a non-inertial reference frame, we arrive at

!
d̂ d̂0
mr̈ = F − mA = mg − GMm m 2 + Fng + GMm m 2 (1.2)
d d0

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(c) You should find that
mr̈ = mg + Ftid + Fng , (1.3)

where Ftid the tidal force involves Mm , the mass of the moon. What is Ftid ? What is the
interpretation of the tidal force?
Combining terms, we find that
!
d̂ d̂0
Ftid = −GMm m 2
− 2 (1.4)
d d0

The tidal force represents the force due to the moon, which is the difference between the
actual force of the moon on m and the force if m were at the center of the earth.

(d) By considering various points on the earth, convince yourself that there are thus two high
tides and two low tides. Draw a sketch of the shape the ocean resulting from the effect of
the tidal force.
SKETCH

(e) We are now interested in the magnitude of the tides, meaning the difference in height between
the high and low tides. We shall first prove that the ocean is an equipotential surface.
Consider a drop of water on the ocean’s surface. It is in static equilibrium, balanced by three
forces: the earth’s gravitational pull, the tidal force, and the pressure force Fp . Argue that
Fp must be normal to the surface of the ocean. Therefore, mg + Ftid must be normal to the
surface.
There is no shearing force, since we have a static fluid. Therefore, the pressure force Fp must
be normal to the surface, and thus mf + Ftid must also be perpendicular (in the opposite
direction and with equal magnitude) since there is no net force.

(f) Since mg and Ftid are conservative forces, they can be expressed as

mg = −∇Ueg , Ftid = −∇Utid , (1.5)

where Ueg is the potential energy due to the earth’s gravity, and Utid is that of the tidal force.
Find Ueg and Utid .
By inspection  
1 x
Ueg = mgr, Utid = −GMm m + 2 (1.6)
d d0
where r is the distance from the earth’s center.

(g) Using the fact that mg + Ftid is normal to the surface, conclude that U = Ueg + Utid is
constant on the surface, that is, the surface of the earth’s ocean is an equipotential surface.
Using our intuition from E&M, we know that if the electric field is everywhere perpendicular
to the surface, then the surface is an equipotential surface (definition of a perfect conductor).
Therefore, here U = Ueg + Utid is constant on the ocean’s surface.

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(h) By symmetry, for the two low tides, their heights are the same. Let P be the point on the
earth’s ocean farthest from the earth (high tide), and let Q be the point on the earth’s ocean
closest to the earth (low tide). Since U is constant on the surface,

U (P ) = U (Q) (1.7)

which implies that

Ueg (P ) − Ueg (Q) = Utid (Q) − Utid (P ) (1.8)

Note that the LHS here is just

Ueg (P ) − Ueg (Q) = mgh (1.9)

where h is the height difference between the high and low tides. Calculate Utid (Q) and
Utid (P ).
p
We assume r ≈ Re . At Q, d = d20 + Re2 and x = 0. Therefore,

GMm m
Utid (Q) = − p 2 (1.10)
d0 + Re2

At P , d = d0 − Re and x = −Re . Therefore,

 
1 Re
Utid (P ) = −GMm m − 2 (1.11)
d0 − Re d0

(i) Use the fact that Re , the earth’s radius, is much smaller than d0 , the distance between the
earth’s and moon’s centers, that is, assume Re /d0  1 and work to smallest nontrivial order.
What do Utid (Q) and Utid (P ) become in this limit?
Hint: the binomial approximation is (1 + x)−1/2 ≈ 1 − 12 x may be useful.

R2
 
GMm m GMm m GMm m
Utid (Q) = − p 2 =− p ≈− 1 − e2 (1.12)
d0 + Re2 d0 1 + (Re /d0 )2 d0 2d0

R2
     
1 Re GMm m 1 Re GMm m
Utid (P ) = −GMm m − 2 =− − =− 1 + 2e
d0 − Re d0 d0 1 − Re /d0 d0 d0 d0
(1.13)

(j) Use your expressions for Utid (Q) and Utid (P ) to find h.

Utid (Q) − Utid (P ) GMm m 3Re2

h= = (1.14)
mg d0 2d20

(k) Simplify your expression for h using the fact that g = GMe /Re2 , where Me is the mass of the
earth.
3Mm Re4
h= (1.15)
2Me d30

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(l) Putting in numbers gives h = 54 cm if we consider only the moon, and h = 25 cm if
we consider only the sun. Although the sun’s effect is smaller than the moon’s, it is not
negligible. Also, the effects of the sun and moon can combine in interesting ways. For
example, what is the largest height difference you’d expect, and why? What is the smallest
height difference you’d expect, and why?
If the sun, earth, and moon are collinear, then we’d expect the tidal forces from the sun and
moon would reinforce each other, and thus we’d predict large tides with h being the sum of
heights, that is, h = 25 + 54 = 79 cm. However, if the sun, earth, and moon are at right
angles, then we’d expect the two tidal forces to cancel each other, predicting smaller tides
with height h = 54 − 25 = 29 cm.

2 Review Questions
1. What is an inertial system? How is a non-inertial system distinguished?

2. How do we modify Newton’s laws to describe trajectory of a particle in non-inertial systems?

3. How is the Lagrangian modified? How do we modify Lagrange equations?

4. Under what condition can we drop terms in the Lagrange function, and still obtain the
same physics? Why is this useful in the description of non-inertial systems?

5. What is the interpretation of fictitious / inertial forces?