SOLUTION: An air traffic control towel at an airport located in flat dessert terrain, the controller can see to the horizon. The distance d in miles that he can see from a height above gro

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Question 252848: An air traffic control towel at an airport located in flat dessert terrain, the controller can see to the horizon. The distance d in miles that he can see from a height above ground level h (in feet) is given by the following equation. How high must the controller be to see 20 miles to the horizon? Round to the nearest foot.

D=(the sq root of 1.5h
I am not getting this problem. Would someone please help me?
Found 2 solutions by stanbon, richwmiller:
Answer by stanbon(75887) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
How high must the controller be to see 20 miles to the horizon? Round to the nearest foot.
D=(the sq root of 1.5h
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20 = sqrt(1.5h)
Square both sides to get:
1.5h = 400
h = 266 2/3 ft.
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Cheers,
Stan H.

Answer by richwmiller(17219) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
What is an air traffic control towel?
Is that the towel they use to wipe off their sweat after doing these math problems?
plug 20 into the formula
D=sqrt(1.5h)
20=sqrt(1.5h)
sq both sides
400=1.5h
multiply by 10
4000=15h
4000/15=h
800/3=h
266.67 feet or 267 feet which would be over 26 floors/stories high
I suspect that you didn't copy the problem correctly.