Brett Hillyard/istock

"The answer depends on what you refer to as tides," according to Todd Ehret, a physical oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Most people think of tides as a periodic change in the surface level of a body of water, created by the gravitational force of the moon and the sun. But are you looking at theoretical differences or real and measurable differences?"

How about Vince Vaughn's bathtub?

"The gravitational forces of the moon and sun are felt everywhere by everything. In theory, these forces can be felt in objects as small as a drop of water, but that tide would only exist at the subatomic level. For all practical purposes, it takes a very large body of liquid to have a tide. There is a tidal effect in the Great Lakes [of] less than one inch in height. They are considered nontidal."

So, Oprah's bathtub?

"To have a true tidal effect — something that can be seen and measured — you need a body of water the size of an ocean or sea."

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