If the mid-Atlantic Ocean is spreading at 3.0 cm per year, how many years has it taken for it to reach its present width of about 5000 km?
Express your answer to two significant figures and include the appropriate units.
5.0E6 m / 3.0E-2 m/yr = 1.7E8 yr
Well, isn't the mid-Atlantic Ocean a bit of an overachiever? Spreading at a rate of 3.0 cm per year, it's not going to become the world's widest ocean anytime soon. But let's crunch some numbers and put a smile on the mid-Atlantic's face.
So, if the mid-Atlantic Ocean spreads at a rate of 3.0 cm per year, we need to convert that speed to kilometers. There are 100,000 cm in a kilometer, so the mid-Atlantic Ocean spreads at a rate of 0.03 km per year.
Now, to find out how many years it took for the mid-Atlantic Ocean to reach its present width of about 5000 km, we can divide 5000 km by 0.03 km per year.
5000 km / 0.03 km per year = 166,666 years.
So, with a touch of humor and two significant figures, it has taken the mid-Atlantic Ocean approximately 170,000 years to spread out to its current width. Now that's some long-term planning!
To find the number of years it has taken for the mid-Atlantic Ocean to reach its present width of 5000 km, we can use the formula:
Time = Distance / Rate
Given that the mid-Atlantic Ocean is spreading at a rate of 3.0 cm per year, we need to convert the width to centimeters:
5000 km = 5000000 m = 500000000 cm
Now we can calculate the time:
Time = 500000000 cm / 3.0 cm/year = 166,666,667 years
Therefore, it has taken approximately 1.7 x 10^8 years (or 166,666,667 years to two significant figures) for the mid-Atlantic Ocean to reach its present width of about 5000 km.
To determine the number of years it has taken for the mid-Atlantic Ocean to reach its present width of about 5000 km, you can use the formula:
Time = Distance / Rate
In this case, the distance is 5000 km and the rate is 3.0 cm/year. However, we need to ensure that the units are consistent. So, we need to convert either the distance or the rate to the same units. Let's convert the rate to km/year to match the distance.
To convert cm to km, divide the rate by 100,000 (since 1 km = 100,000 cm):
Rate = 3.0 cm/year / 100,000 cm/km
Rate = 0.00003 km/year
Now we can substitute the values into the formula:
Time = 5000 km / 0.00003 km/year
Calculating this division, we find:
Time ≈ 166,666,667 years
Rounding the answer to two significant figures, we get:
Time ≈ 1.7 x 10^8 years.
So, it has taken approximately 1.7 x 10^8 years for the mid-Atlantic Ocean to reach its present width of about 5000 km.