A person standing at the edge of the water and looking out at the ocean (see the

Question

A person standing at the edge of the water and looking out at the ocean (see the drawing). The height of the person's eyes above the water is h = 1.3 m, and the radius of the earth is R =

(a) How far is it to the horizon? In other words, what is the distance d from the person's eyes to the horizon? (Note: At the horizon the angle between the line of sight and the radius of the earth is 90°.)
???m

(b) Express this distance in miles.
??? miles

(I tryed 2 and both answers are wrong both times. Someone please enlighting me.)

Explanation / Answer

Solution:

Using Pythagoras theorem:

(R+h)2 = R2 + d2  

=> (6.38 x 106 + 1.3)2 = (6.38 x 106 )2 + d2

=> d = 4073.08 metres

B)

d = 4073.08 metres = 2.530894576 miles

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