1

WoPhO Selection Round Problem 10

Tides
Attila Szab, Grade 11
Lewey Klra High School
Pcs, Hungary
In the followings, A ' B will mean that A and B differ only in a constant (that is ignorable in this
problem).
1. A. It is obvious from the definition of gravitational potential that
E (r) = G

ME
.
r

p
2
The distance between the CM of the Moon and the examined point is d = r2 + REM
2rREM cos
according to the law of cosines. Knowing this, the gravitational potential due to the Moon is
M (r, ) = G p

MM
2
REM

r2

2REM r cos

B. We need to use the first-order approximation for the first run only in the potential
due to the Moon:
p
2
+ r2 2REM r cos =
ignoring differences in terms of second order in r here (as r RE  REM ) gives REM
REM r cos ; using this in the expression of the potential gives
GMM
GMM
=
M (r, ) =
REM r cos
REM

r cos
1+
REM


'

GMM
r cos ;
2
REM

consequently, the resulting potential is

(r, ) =

GME
GMM
2 r cos .
r
REM

C. At this point, we should use that the water level is near the surface of the Earth, that is, r RE :
we can express this by introducing h := r RE and assuming that h  RE . If we use this and the given
first-order approximation in the expression of the potential we shall get
(r, ) =

GME
RE


1

h
RE

GMM RE
GMM
(RE + h) cos '
cos + h
2
2
REM
REM


GME
GMM

cos

.
2
2
RE
REM

As moving the water level up or down some meters doesnt really alter its form, we can choose it
conveniently. An appropriate choice is to say h := 0 at = /2: then cos = 0, so the value of the
potential (in this normalization) is 0. Then the condition for equipotentiality:
GMM RE

cos + h
2
REM

h

GME
GMM
2
cos
2
RE
REM

GME
GMM
2
cos
2
RE
REM

h=

GMM RE
cos
2
REM
GME
M
GM
cos
2
2
RE
REM


=0

GMM RE
cos
2
REM

MM RE
cos
2
REM
ME
MM
cos
2 R2
RE
EM

3
MM R E
cos .
2
ME REM

At the last approximation we have used that MM  ME and RE  REM , so the second term in the
difference in the denominator is ignorable compared to the first. From this form of the expression one
can see trivially that the lowest water level corresponds to cos = 1 ( = , that is, the point opposed
to the Moon), while the highest level corresponds to the point facing the Moon. The equation of this
kind gives approximately (as the water level varies only a few) an ellipse: the sketch of the curve (with
oversized tides) can be seen in Fig. 1.

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Surface
Water level

Moon

Fig. 1. The sketch of the water level in the simple model (the height of the tides is far larger than in
reality for better visibility).
D. The minimum water level occurs at cos = 1, while the maximum is to be found at cos = 1
M R3
M R3
(this can be easily seen from the expression before): these levels are h = MEMR2 E and h+ = MEMR2 E ,
EM
EM
respectively. The tidal height is the half of their difference:
h =

3
h+ h
MM RE
=
= 22.4 m.
2
2
ME REM

2. A. It is well-known that in a two-body system the distance to the barycentre is inversely proportional
M
to the mass of the body. This implies that d = REM MEM+M
. To find the angular velocity we should
M
consider that the gravitational force between Earth and Moon should hold the Earth on its circular orbit
of radius d around the barycentre. That is,
G

ME MM
MM
= ME d 2 = ME REM
2
2
REM
M E + MM
s

G(ME + MM )
.
3
REM

B. The centrifugal force per unit mass in a distance x from the axis is x 2 and points away from
it. This is analogous to the force exerted by a string (F = kx) that is proportional to the distance:
however, this force points towards the axis. The potential energy of a spring is given by 21 kx2 as it is
well-known: our analogy implies then that the centrifugal potential is C = 12 x2 2 .
C. From the law of cosines x2 = d2 + r2 2rd cos . Using this and the expression of , the centrifugal
potential is


2
2
G(ME + MM )
REM
MM
2REM MM
2
C (r, ) =

r cos + r '
3
2REM
(ME + MM )2
M E + MM
'

G(ME + MM )r2
GMM r cos
+
3
2
2REM
REM

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D. The given approximation implies that one should calculate to the second order in r in M (r, ):
M (r, ) = p

2
REM

r cos
r2
3
1+

+
2
REM
2REM
8

GMM
=
REM

'

GMM
=
2
REM
2REM r cos + r
GMM

2r cos
REM


1/2
2r cos
r2
=
1
+ 2
REM
REM

2 !
'

GMM r cos GMM r2

+
(1 3 cos2 ).
2
3
REM
2REM

Using other terms of the potential that were found so far gives the total potential as
(r, ) =

G(ME + MM )r2
GMM r cos
GME
GMM r cos GMM r2
2
+
(1

3
cos
)

+
=

2
3
3
2
r
REM
2REM
2REM
REM

GME
Gr2
(ME + 3MM cos2 ).

3
r
2REM

E. Were going to use the substitution r := RE + h and first-order approximation again. This gives
now
(r, ) =

'

2
GME
+ 2RE h)
G(RE
GME
h
(ME + 3MM cos2 ) '
+
2
3
RE
RE
2REM

2
3GRE
MM
cos2 + h
2
2REM

GME
GRE (ME + 3MM cos2 )

2
3
RE
REM

We can choose the place of the water level conveniently: let h := 0 at = /2; then the resulting potential
is 0 again, the condition of equipotentiality:
0=

h

2
MM
3GRE
cos2 + h
2
2REM

GME
GRE (ME + 3MM cos2 )

2
3
RE
REM

GME
GRE (ME + 3MM cos2 )

2
3
RE
REM

h=

2
3GRE
MM
2
2REM

GME
2
RE

GRE (ME +3MM

3
REM

cos2

2
MM
3GRE
cos2
2
2REM


=

2
3RE
MM
2
2REM

cos2
ME
2
RE

cos2

RE (ME +3MM
3
REM

cos2

4
MM
3RE
cos2
3
2REM ME

The last approximation uses that the second term in the difference of the denominator is ignorable
compared to the first one (they are in the order of magnitude of 1011 and 106 SI-units, respectively). It is
easy to see from this expression that the lowest water level corresponds to cos2 = 0 (that is, = /2),
while the highest level corresponds to cos2 = 1 ( = 0 or = ). The sketch of the water level (with
oversized tides) can be seen in Fig. 2.
F. The lowest water level is at = /2, here h = 0 as one can easily see; the maximal water level at
3R4 M
= 0 is h+ = 2R3E MME . The tidal height is then:
EM

h =

4
h+ h
3RE
MM
=
= 28.3 cm.
3
2
4REM ME

G. What we have to do is simply changing indices M to S, that is, the water level height is

hS =

2
3RE
MS
2
2RES

ME
2
RE

cos2

RE (ME +3MS cos2 )

3
RES

4
3RE
MS
cos2 .
3
2RES ME

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(We should note that the second term is ignorable in this case, too: its in the order of magnitude of 104
SI-units compared to that of 1011 SI-units of the first term.) Since we can use this approximation, the
tidal height caused by the Sun is given by
hS =

4
3RE
MS
= 12.4 cm.
3 M
4RES
E

Surface
Water level

Moon

Fig. 2. The sketch of the water level in the sophisticated model (the height of the tides is far larger than
in reality for better visibility).