Definition
The residual force at any point on Earth after subtracting the centripetal acceleration of the Earth-Moon (or Earth-Sun) barycentric rotation from the local gravitational attraction of that body. It varies with the inverse cube of distance, not the inverse square, which is why the Moon dominates: the Sun's mass is vastly greater but its distance makes its tidal effect roughly 46 per cent of the Moon's. The residual is directed outward on both the sub-body and antipodal sides, giving two bulges.
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