Final answer:
To find the percent of New Mexico's land area relative to the whole United States, multiply the decimal representation (0.03) by 100, resulting in 3%.
Step-by-step explanation:
If New Mexico's land area is about 0.03 of the total area of the United States, then to express this as a percent, we multiply by 100. Therefore, New Mexico's land area is 3% of the total area of the United States.
Here is the step-by-step explanation:
Understand that the 0.03 figure is the decimal representation of New Mexico's land area as a fraction of the United States' total land area.
To convert the decimal to a percent, multiply it by 100.
Therefore, 0.03 × 100 equals 3%.
This percentage indicates that for every 100 units of land area in the entire United States, 3 units are made up by New Mexico.