How the Horizon Works

When you stand at the water's edge and look out toward the horizon, how far away can you actually see? Check out this HowStuffWorks podcast to learn more about the horizon and the curvature of Earth.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:22):
smart happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question. When
I stand at the water's edge and look out over
the ocean, how far away is the horizon. One of
the funniest things about the ocean is the fact that

(00:43):
its surface is curved. We tend to think about water
forming large flat sheets, but the surface of a body
of water is not actually flat at all. It follows
the curvature of the Earth because of the curvature of
the planet. The distance between you and the horizon when
you look out over the ocean depends on your height

(01:03):
above the surface of the water. If your eyes are
eight inches above the water, the distance to the horizon
is about a mile. If you're six ft tall and
standing right at the water's edge, then your eyes are
about five and a half feet above the surface. The
distance to the horizon is about three miles in that case.

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