Asked by Anonymous
you are 100,000 feet above planet B and the ground range to your horizon point is 400 miles. What is the radius of planet B?
Answers
Answered by
drwls
The satellite, Earth center and horizon tangent point form a right triangle. The Pythagorean theorem says
R^2 + x^2 = (R + h)^2
h is the altitude and x is the range. R is the earth radius
Solve for R.
x^2 = 2hR + h^2
R = (x^2-h^2)/(2h)
R^2 + x^2 = (R + h)^2
h is the altitude and x is the range. R is the earth radius
Solve for R.
x^2 = 2hR + h^2
R = (x^2-h^2)/(2h)
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