Question
The North American and European continents are moving apart at a rate of about 3 cm/y. At this rate how long will it take them to drift 500 km farther apart than they are at present?
Step 1
We know that 1 meter is equal to 100 centimeters and 1 kilometer is equal to 1000 meters. Therefore, we can write: \[3 \, \text{cm/y} = \frac{3}{100} \, \text{m/y} = \frac{3}{100 \times 1000} \, \text{km/y} = 0.00003 \, \text{km/y}\] Show more…
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The North American and European continents are moving apart at a rate of about 3 cm/y. At this rate how long will it take them to drift 400 km farther apart than they are at present?
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