How far is it to the horizon on a clear day at sea ?

Answer 1

The earth curves two inches every mile. You would only see the halfway mark considering the decline to the end point on the other side of your line of sight. So a person that is 70 inches tall sees a horizon depth of 35 miles. A person that is 60 inches will see a horizon depth of 30 miles. Now if your in a boat you'll have to know the height you're at from the water level. If it helps draw this out on paper. Total inches X .5 Is good enough.

Answer 2

If you are standing at the waters edge on the beach, toes wet, and your eyes are about 5 feet higher the horizon is about 3 miles away. However you could just see in theory another similar person 6 miles away, as your eyeline and his eyeline would meet at your horizons. For small elevations to horizon moves away at about 3 miles for every 5 feet of elevation, so the lookout on a ship at 50 feet above water should be able to see all of another ship at 30 miles or more. The visibility (mist, smoke &c) is more likely to limit the visibility. On a clear day you can see the French coast easily from the deck of a ferry at Dover (22 miles)

Answer 3

I am a mariner and been dealing wit these things on a daily basis, details on horizon are too much but on an average sunny day and nor mal weather conditions the range is roughly 20-25 miles 'ish', it will vary with several factor primariily with the height of eye, here are two very interesting links for you to explain in a bit of detail, enjoy !!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon#See_also

http://www.answers.com/topic/horizon

Answer 4

The distance to the horizon depends on elevation. If your eyes are only 1.7 meters above the surface of the sea, you will be able to see 4.7 km.

The formula is d = sqrt(13h) where d is the distance to the horizon in km and h is height above sea level in meters.

Answer 5

It depends on how high above the sea you are.

1.17 times the square root of your height of eye = Distance to the horizon in nautical miles.

So if your eye is 9 feet above the sea, the horizon is 1.17 * 3^0.5 = 3.5 miles.

Answer 6

approximately 20-25 miles in good conditions would be the average distance seen in open water to the horizon.

Answer 7

Distance to horizon =
Square root of (h^2 + 2rh)
Where units are Km and
r=6366 (radius of Earth)
h = Your eye height above sea level
So if your eyes are 1.5m above sea level
h=1.5/1000

Works out like this:

For
h=1.5m Dist = 4.4 Km
h=5m Dist = 8 Km
h=10m Dist = 11.3Km
h=20m Dist = 16 Km
h=30m Dist = 19.5 Km

Answer 8

of direction it relies upon of your top, yet in spite of this is incredibly approximately 5 km (3 miles). i stumbled on an occasion: "For an observer status on the floor with h = one million.70 m (known eye-point top), the horizon seems at a distance of four.7 km"

Answer 9

it depends on how high above the waterline you are. basically, the horizon is about 12-15 miles away.

Answer 10

I could be wrong here loose but.... If I remember back to geography lessons I think it's around 30 - 35 miles. A sailor would know this...