The Light List shows that a navigational...

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Question 1 of 2066636ee928f7522a1c519aa5

The Light List shows that a navigational light has a nominal range of 15 miles and a height above water of 29 feet (8.8 meters). Your height of eye is 52 feet (15.8 meters) and visibility is 6.0 miles. At which approximate range will you first sight the light?

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Question 1 of 20

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🔍 Key Concepts

• Nominal range versus geographic range of a light • Effect of meteorological visibility on the nominal range (use the luminous range concept/diagram from Light List or Bowditch) • Using height of eye and light height to find the geographic range (distance to the horizon)

💭 Think About

• First, if visibility is only 6 miles, can you ever see the light clearly at 14–16 miles, even if its nominal range is 15 miles? • Calculate the geographic range based on the light’s height and your height of eye. Is the geographic range greater or less than the visibility-limited range? • Between the distance limited by visibility and the distance limited by curvature of the Earth, which one actually controls when you will first see the light in this case?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be sure you understand that nominal range assumes 10-mile meteorological visibility, which is not the case here. • Confirm that you know the approximate formula for distance to the horizon for both your height of eye and the light’s height, and that you combine them correctly. • Before choosing, check which is smaller: the visibility-limited luminous range or the geographic range; that smaller value is the limiting sighting distance.

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