1. Chapter 7 The Moon

2. The gravitational force between Earth, Moon, and Sun
results in tidal bulges on the Earth
Tides are most directly associated with the Moon and to a lesser extent the Sun. Tides result from the fact that the force of gravity exerted by the moon gets weaker as you get farther away from it. Tides depend on the difference between the gravitational attraction of a massive body at different points. Even though the moon is less massive than the Sun, it is much closer than the Sun so the tides from the moon are stronger than from the Sun.
The Sun’s effect on the Earth’s tides is only half as much as the Moon’s. Though the Sun exerts a greater gravitational force on the Earth than does the Moon, the Sun is so far away that its force doesn’t change much between one side of the Earth and the other. It is only the difference in the forces between the two sides that accounts for the tides.
Consider that the Earth is completely covered with water. We might say that the water closest to the moon is attracted toward the moon with the greatest force and so is the location of high tide as the earth rotates. But if this is the whole story, high tides would rise once per day. But two high tides occur daily.
Consider three points: A, B, and C. A is the ocean nearest the moon and C is the distance farthest from the moon. Since the moon’s gravity weakens with distance, it is greater at point A than at B and greater at B than at C. Arrows represent the gravitational pull of the moon.
The high tide at A is a result of the ocean being pulled away from the Earth. The high tide on the opposite side of the Earth at C is a result of the Earth being pulled away from the water. In between the locations of high tides (B), the water has rushed to the region of the high tides so we have low tides. So you get about two high tides per day.
Note: although the tidal forces results from gravity, it is the difference between the gravitational forces at two places
and is not the same as the gravitational force.

3. Bouncing laser beams off the Moon demonstrates that it is slowly moving away from the Earth
The effect of the tides on the Earth-Moon system slow down the earth’s rotation slightly and it leads to the gradual spiraling of the moon from the Earth (only at a rate of a few cms per year). tidal friction.
Angular Momentum Demonstration!

4. Conservation of angular momentum causes the Moon to move away from the Earth as the Earth slows down its rotation

5. We always see the same side of the Moon due to its synchronous rotation
The Near Side
The Far Side

6. We always see the same side of the Moon due to its synchronous rotation

7. The Formation of the Moon
computer simulation of a collision between the young Earth snf sn impactor. Each is composed of an iron core and a rock mantle. The impactor hits the young Earth, separates, and then falls in again, pulling out a tail of matter. At the end of this sequence which takes six days, several large clumps and many smaller clumps are left.
Show Lunar landings, Moon Rover and lunar surface from Redshift 2. Also show moon formation simulation
Ejection of Gaseous Ring: A planetesimal about twice the size of
Mars hit the young Earth, ejecting matter in gaseous (and perhaps some
liquid or solid) form. Although some of the matter fell back on Earth,
and part escaped entirely, a significant fraction started orbiting the
Earth probably in the same direction as the initial planetesimal. The
orbiting material coalesced into the Moon.

8. Question Why would it not be a good idea to open
a restaurant on the moon?

9. The Moon’s surface is covered with craters, plains, and mountains
Next we study our nearest neighbor the moon. It is about 380,000km or 238,000 miles away from us. Since it is our nearest neighbor, it looks sufficiently large in the night sky. Before we can only speculate, we made up stories about it; joked that it was made of cheese; myth of the man on the moon. Now we know a lot more about it after the several lunar missions.
If you look at the moon with the naked eye you notice that the moon has some dark areas and some light areas. Through the binoculars you would also be able to see the craters.
The dark parts are called the maria: or seas because ancient people thought that there was water on the moon and that they looked like seas. The light parts consist of the lunar highlands or mountain ranges and craters. You know that the lighter parts are at higher elevations than the dark parts.
Regolith: sand on the moon.
The moon shines by reflected sunlight of the Sun. The best time to observe the moon is not during full moon because it has direct sunlight on it and short shadows and the features are washed out; you can observe it best during the crescent or quarter moon when it is covered in long shadows and shows the details of these surface features.
The moon has no atmosphere. Joke: Why would it not be a good idea to have a restaurant on the moon? Because it lacks atmosphere!

12. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” - Armstrong
Apollo Missions.
SHow Moon formation Animation and Apollo lunar rover and lunar take off.

13. Group Activity
What if the Moon never existed…How would conditions on Earth be different?