SOLUTION: OK, I have spent every waking second trying to figure this out. d=sqrt(2h) I made my height easy, 6 mile, or 30,680 feet. I know R stands for the radius of the Earth which is ap

Question 357809: OK, I have spent every waking second trying to figure this out. d=sqrt(2h) I made my height easy, 6 mile, or 30,680 feet. I know R stands for the radius of the Earth which is approximately 3,960 miles. This is what I have come up with...not good, but it's all I have:
(r+h)^2=r^2+d^2 simplifying (r+h)^2 i get r^2+2rh+h^2=r^2+d^2 I need to move r^2 to get d^2 alone so I now have 2rh+h^2=d^2 now to get d standing completely alone I have to radical both sides? ([square root]2hr+h^2)=d ?? Then I just plug in my numbers and get it. But i keep coming up with a ridiculous number like...d=47556miles. The closest I have gotten to a reasonable answer is 3,966 miles and thats my total sum of r and h, so i know thats wrong.
Ok here's my question. I'm in a plan, 6 miles in the air, what's the distance that I should be able to see the horizon using d=sqrt(2h)? I'm so lost. Please and THANK YOU!!!!
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
the formula for dist to horizon: d = ; h in ft. gives d in miles
:
So if you are 6 mi high you are 6(5280) 31680 ft high
d =
d = 251.7 mi so horizon
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