Solve for Earth and Mars Radius: Distance to the Horizon Formula

[charan1]

Homework Statement

The distance to the horizon increases as you climb a mountain:
d=sqrt(2rh+h^2)

d=distance to the horizon
r=radius's
h=height of hill

solve for Earth's and Mar's radius
Earths radius Feet: 20924640
Mars radius feet: 11132880

for heights from 0ft-10,000ft

The Attempt at a Solution

This is what I did but I keep getting an error

>> R=[20924640, 11132880]

R =

20924640 11132880

>> H=0:1:10000

>> [r,h]=meshgrid(R,H)

>> d=sqrt((2*r.*h.)+(h.^2))
? d=sqrt((2*r.*h.)+(h.^2))
|
Error: Unbalanced or unexpected parenthesis or bracket.

>> d=sqrt(2*r.*h.+h.^2)
? d=sqrt(2*r.*h.+h.^2)
|
Error: Unexpected MATLAB operator.

I'm not exactly sure what the problem is, please help!

 

[charan1]

also the problem says I have to use meshgrid...I know there's a way to do this without doing that...

 

[Mark44]

The problem is that you have an extra period in this line

>> d=sqrt((2*r.*h.)+(h.^2))

 

[charan1]

But I thought you have to put a period after each vector variable?

 

[Mark44]

No, you misunderstand. The period is part of the operator, not part of the variable, and means that the operation is to be applied to each element of the vector.

 

[charan1]

Oh I see Thank you!