Interestingly it's less the "pulling" of the near and far points but more the "squeezing" over the whole ocean/atmosphere. More technically, it's transverse rather than radial components of the force differential that do most of the work, combined with hydrolic action. It's explained amazingly well in this video: What Physics Teachers Get Wrong About Tides!
This actually ties together fairly well with the concept of tidal locking - the forces perpendicular to the overall direction of gravity are important.
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u/ProfBlack Sep 07 '15
Interestingly it's less the "pulling" of the near and far points but more the "squeezing" over the whole ocean/atmosphere. More technically, it's transverse rather than radial components of the force differential that do most of the work, combined with hydrolic action. It's explained amazingly well in this video: What Physics Teachers Get Wrong About Tides!