Jeff,

I think the term centrifuigal is appropriate in this context. It is a
term in the system that can be appreciated without needing to consider
Newtonian forces. To understand centripetal forces is a lot harder than
just demonstrating the effect. similarly gravity can be demonstrated
without maths. Thus the explanation becomes really simple e.g.:

The earth-moon body rotates around a common point and water tries to
move away from the center (water in a bucket swung on a rope analogy).
The moon exerts gravity which is stronger on the side of the moon. Thus
water forms two bulges on opposite sides and makes two tides as the
earth rotates...


Cheers


Jeff Morris wrote:

As I said, I was leaving this as an exercise for the reader.

I have heard tides on the far side of the Earth described in terms of the
centrifugal force caused by the Earth's rotation around Earth-Moon system.
Although this is a consistent way of describing it, I've never liked using
"fictional" forces.