- #1
member 428835
Homework Statement
An observer from sea level watches a ship sail away from shore. If the ships height is ##\epsilon \ll 1## after scaling with the radius of the earth, show that the distance the ship disappears will be about ##\sqrt{2\epsilon}##.
Homework Equations
Nothing comes to mind.
The Attempt at a Solution
Not quite sure where to start here. I'm thinking of a sort of right triangle made with the observer, the ship base, and the ship height, but I just don't know the distance between the ship and observer.
I imagine the square root appears from the pythagorean theorem (the three points being the observer, ship base and ship height) though I'm unsure. Anyone give me a nudge in the right direction?