I am standing on a beach ,gazing at the ocean.There is no fog, there is no clouds, the sky is blue , and so is the ocean.And I see that line called the "horizon",and I,m wondering ,how many miles away is this line from here??

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,

It depends on how tall you are, how high the waves are, and how high above the water you're standing.

If you're 6 feet tall, and the water is perfectly flat, the horizon will be 3 miles away.

If the waves are swelling up to 4 feet, then you'll be able to see the ones behind the horizon 5 miles away.

If the spot you're standing on is 2 feet higher in elevation than the water level, in addition to all else, you'll see those waves cresting behind the horizon 6 miles away.

After that, the water drops below the horizon and is hidden from view.

The formula for determining the distance in miles is:

1.224 times the square root of height (in feet) above the earth's surface.

So, if your eyes are 5 1/2 feet above the surface of the sea the horizon is 2.87 miles away.

The square D² of the distance to the horizon is very nearly 2 R H, where R is the radius of the Earth and H the altitude of your eyes.  For a drawing and a geometrical explanation, see: www.numericana.com/answer/formula.htm#horizon.

In the above, the same unit of length should be used for D, R and H.  Otherwise, using the proper conversion factors you will find that, for example:

• The distance in kilometers is about 3.5696 times the square root of the altitude in meters.
• The distance in statute miles is about 1.22455 times the square root of the altitude in feet.
• The distance in nautical miles is about 1.0641 times the square root of the altitude in feet

Since the 6.41% difference is small enough in this last case, sailors have been known to memorize the fact that the distance to the horizon in nautical miles is about the square root of your height above water in feet (it's the height of your eyes we are talking about, of course).