[Old Professer]

I clicked back to see exactly where you felt comfortable insulting me and now find myself wishing I could meet your 18 year-old version to see if what was so obvious then to him can be quantified better now by your smugger self; how many hours longer is the earth day today and how much farther is the moon now versus then?

[3niner]

I was merely pointing out that this phenomenon has been well known (and understood) for centuries. So well known and understood, that any CalTech freshman can deduce the reasons for it, after being prompted to think about it.

I only mentioned CalTech freshmen because I happened to go there, and all who are accepted to attend have some grounding in math and the physical sciences. The same would (presumably) be true of MIT freshmen.

Here is a link to a little bit of information on the subject.

http://research.amnh.org/~tyson/essays/TidalForce.html

I'm afraid my "insulting" reply was due largely to my having difficulty finding your profile, after you referred me to it. When you use "Old Professer" (sic) as a screen name, you make a statement about yourself.

I was also annoyed that you felt qualified to argue about a simple statement of fact, that I pointed out, when you seemed not to be aware of it. Some things are a matter of opinion, the gross orbital dynamics of the Earth-Luna system are not.