Dear All
There is a well-known formula related to this
discussion which I don't recall seeing on this
list. Apologies to all who know it...
To find the distance to the horizon, from a
point at a given height above the ground,
proceed as follows:
1. Take your height above the ground in feet
2. Add a half
3. Take the square-root
4. The result is the distance to the horizon
in statute miles.
Worked example...
Height 6 feet, add a half gives 9 feet,
square root gives 3 miles.
Strictly, you multiply the height by about 1.52.
If you want nautical miles you add a third instead
of a half.
For heights which are small compared with the radius
of the Earth, the results are remarkably good. It is
easy to do the arithmetic that verifies this!
Admirers of Napoleon and his metric ideas may not
appreciate these thoughts!!
Frank King
Cambridge, U.K.
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