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Caught a guy at a park in Phoenix last month setting up a laser level on a tripod to prove the horizon curves
He spent like 20 minutes leveling it across a 3 mile stretch of lake, and sure enough the beam hit about 6 feet higher at the far end than where he started. Has anyone else seen people doing these DIY experiments in public?
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richardh443mo ago
Figured that was gonna be his result before he even started. A lake that size curves about 8 inches per mile if the math is right, so 3 miles should give you close to 2 feet of drop, not 6. Something is off with his setup or he's measuring wrong, maybe refraction messing with the laser over water at that distance. People get real excited about proving something and forget to account for the simple stuff.
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seth_martinez213mo ago
Nah but 6 feet of drop over 3 miles sounds about right if you account for the laser bending through the air above warm water. Refraction is real, people just forget it messes with straight lines.
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