And the centrifugal force, present due to the rotation of the system, is pulling the masses apart. We have seen how tides are formed on the Earth because of these opposing forces. The same tidal forces come into play whenever gravitational attractive forces and centrifugal repulsive forces are working together. Tidal forces are also generated when a smaller body such as a moon or an asteroid comes close to a massive body. The gravitational force within the smaller body competes with the overall gravitational attraction towards the larger body.
Tidal forces tend to stretch the smaller object, even though it is solid.
With time the tidal forces are stronger than the object s ability to hold itself together by gravity, so the object breaks apart. In 1850 the French astronomer Edouard Roche proposed how gravitational force act on masses. Roche showed that if a satellite came too close to a planet, gravity would tear it to pieces. Within a certain radius from the planet rings could exist but not moons. Roche was correct and it is seen that the rings of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune all lie roughly inside their planets' Roche limits.