CoachThe equilibrium tide is the shape that the surface of an ocean covering the whole Earth would take if it followed the tide-generating potential instantly, without inertia. A tidal constituent is one of the harmonic terms, each with a fixed frequency set by the motions of the Moon and the Sun and an amplitude and phase found at each place, whose sum makes the tide; they are named by a letter and the number of cycles per day, such as M, the principal lunar semi-diurnal constituent.
