2006-10-22 06:33:32 · 14 answers · asked by Lynn B 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Boats & Boating
On a clear day you can see 5 miles to the horizon. At that point you will see a sailboat as hull down, or just see the mast above the water level. The answer really depends on how far off the water you are. At water level it is the miles. Up to the crows nest or other super structure it increases significantly
2006-10-22 06:45:44 · answer #1 · answered by science teacher 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your eye-line is actually at sea level - i.e. you're up to your neck in water - then you're effective horizon is as far away as the top of the next wave
However, I'm going to assume that's not really what you meant..
:-)
If you're an average person, standing on a beach with your feet in the water - at sea level - on a calm day... your eye height will be about 5'8" or so... and your observed horizon is around 3 miles.
2006-10-22 11:57:49 · answer #2 · answered by IanP 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The horizon is 12 miles away from sea level!
2006-10-22 11:55:07 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the height you are viewing the horizon from. Assume you are viewing from a height of 6 feet and the diameter of the earth is about 8000 miles. A right triangle is formed with one side equal to the horizon distance, another side equal to the radius of the earth and the hypotenuse equal to 4000miles plus 6 feet. The equation to be solved is then H^2 = (4000 + .0011)^2 - (4000)^2 where .0011 is 6 feet converted to miles. Solving this equation for the horizon H produces approximately 3 miles. Of course this value can always be refined depending on the exact location on earth that the sighting is made and also exactly what is being sighted on the horizon.
2016-05-21 22:37:26 · answer #4 · answered by Ardis 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on how tall you are. If you are 6ft tall and standing at sea level, the horizon is 2.8634nm. Go to MarinePlanner.com, look for geograpic range, put in your height, and the height of the light (or in this case, the horizon being 0) and hit calculate. I used to know the formula, but that bit of knowledge has seems to have slipped my mind over the years. This cal. looks right, though.
2006-10-23 16:07:43 · answer #5 · answered by Justin M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Distance to the horizon is 1.2 x sqrt of height of eye in feet. At nine feet one the horizon is 3.6 miles away. At 16 feet the horizon is 4.8 miles away. One can judge intermediate distances by viewing the distance as a logarithmic scale, not linear. So if your eye is 16 ft, half the distance to the horizon is not 2.4 miles, but closer to 3 miles. The first 1/4th distance is not 1.2 miles, but closer to 0.8 miles.
2006-10-25 17:51:56 · answer #6 · answered by Richard B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The horizon can be as far away from your present location as anywhere from 200 miles to 1000 miles. It is actually quite amazing as to how far one can see on a clear day at sea. However, it really doesn't matter how far you travel to get to the horizon, because you'll never get there. The horizon just continues to expand on and on, forever.
2006-10-22 07:02:36 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The horizon is on a good day around 12 nm from your location. Radar will tell you this if you have access to one but we are talking perfect conditions here which do not always apply.
2006-10-22 11:08:59 · answer #8 · answered by Mike D 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
5 to 6 miles
2006-10-24 12:43:10 · answer #9 · answered by Finbarr C 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maritime survival manual says at sea level a person can see up to a distance of 5 nautical miles on a 'clear calm day'.
2006-10-23 06:25:20 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋