Conceptual Physics (12th Edition)

Published by Addison-Wesley
ISBN 10: 0321909100
ISBN 13: 978-0-32190-910-7

Chapter 9 - Think and Explain - Page 179-180: 75

Answer

The sun's gravitational pull on the Earth is about 180 times greater than the moon's gravitational pull on the Earth (page 168). However, what matters is the difference in pulls on opposite sides of the Earth, and on that score the moon is much more influential. The sun is so much farther away that its pull doesn't vary much over such a relatively small distance change.
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