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Originally Posted by freebeard
Agreed the raw numbers differ, but... the ratio?
It was Moon not Mars. And a feeble attempt at yumor. Tides both pull and push the oceans.
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The ratio issue has to do with the non-linearity of geometric relationships, like aerodynamic drag force and drag power.
Double the 'size' of a car and it's drag only doubles.
Double the speed of the car and the aero power requirement increases eight-fold.
Any specific 'ratio' between volume and surface area for spheres would only hold for spheres of identical radius.
When Brunel designed his famous ship, the Great Eastern, he took advantage of a relationship between wetted area drag and hull displacement later coined the 'Brunel efficiency.' Today's Mega container ships and mega jetliners continue to push the Brunel envelope.
It turns out that, with respect to planetary heat loss, 'size matters.'
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Moon not Mars. Got it!
Yep, Earth-Moon tidal forces are twice as powerful as Earth-Sun.
Even in a perfect planetary alignment, when everything in the Solar System is in a straight line, tidal forces experienced at Earth are virtually no different than at New Moon.