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The gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun, combined with and the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the Earth, cause the movement of the sea. Anyone on a playground roundabout will clearly feel the centrifugal force caused by its rotation that will fling him off if he doesn’t hold on. On the side of the Earth facing the Moon, the gravitational pull of the Moon is greater than the centrifugal force of the Earth. This pulls the sea on that side towards the Moon and a high tide occurs. On the other side of the Earth, that is not facing the Moon, the centrifugal force of the Earth is greater than the gravitational pull of the Moon and the sea forms a second peak – a second area of high tide – here too. The sea in between these two peaks flows away to leave two areas of low tide. The gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun are at their greatest when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth align, the Moon being directly between Sun and Earth. Whenever this happens, particularly high tides – so-called spring tides – occur.