SOLUTION: I am not understanding this problem whatsoever. Please help. Because of the curvature of the earth, the maximum distance "D" that you can see from the top of a tall building or

Question 821555: I am not understanding this problem whatsoever. Please help.
Because of the curvature of the earth, the maximum distance "D" that you can see from the top of a tall building or from an airplane at height "h" is given by the function:
[ D(h)= sqrt( 2rh + h^2 ) ]
Where r=3960 mi is the radius of the Earth and "D" and "h" are the measured in miles.
(a) Find D(0.1) and D(0.2).
(b) How far can you see from the observation deck of Toronto's CN Tower, 1135ft above ground?
(c) Commercial aircraft fly an altitude of about 7 mi. How Far can the pilot see?

Answer by TimothyLamb(4379) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
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the problem gives you this formula:
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D(h)= sqrt( 2(3960)h + hh )
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I added the parentheses only to make the formula clear
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all you have to do is plug into the above formula the h values (in miles) given in the problem, and do the math on a calculator, so just do the following on a calculator:
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a)
D(0.1)= sqrt( 2(3960)0.1 + (0.1)(0.1) )
D(0.2)= sqrt( 2(3960)0.2 + (0.2)(0.2) )
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b)
first convert h = 1135 feet to miles (1135 ft * 1/5280 miles/ft) then plug the resulting h into the formula above
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c)
D(7)= sqrt( 2(3960)7 + 7*7 )
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you can do the math on a calculator
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