Question

A parasail is at a height of 441 feet (or 0.083 miles) above sea level. The earth's radius is 3959 miles find the distance to the horizon to the parasail.

If you answer this can you please explain how to do it? I'm confused and just want to learn, but I don't understand how to solve it!

Answer 1

The distance to horizon is 25.64 miles for the parasail.

Explanation:

The distance to horizon for a given height is given as

`d=√(2hR)`

Here

• d is the distance to horizon
• h is the height of the observer which is given here as 0.083 miles
• R is the radius of Earth which is given as 3959 miles

So the distance becomes

`d=√(2hR)\\d=√(2* 0.083* 3959)\\d=√(657.194)\\d=25.6357 \text{ miles}\\d=25.64\text{ miles}`

So the distance to horizon is 25.64 miles for the parasail.