In the Earth-Moon system, the side of Earth facing the Moon is closer, so it feels a slightly stronger force of gravity than the side facing away. This creates a stretching force across Earth’s diameter, most visible in our oceanic tides, but the solid earth experiences it too. Notice that this description of Moon tides on Earth makes no mention of the Moon’s phase. That’s because the strength of the Moon’s tides has nothing to do with the Moon’s phase. Full Moons get the highest tides not because of the Moon but because of the Sun. The Sun’s tides on Earth are about one-third the strength of
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