Final answer:
Humans live on 3/25 of the Earth's land surface, calculated by multiplying the proportion of land (3/10) by the proportion inhabited by humans (2/5).
Step-by-step explanation:
The fraction of the Earth's land surface where humans live can be calculated by multiplying the fraction of land on Earth by the fraction where humans live. Land covers about 3/10 of the Earth, and humans inhabit 2/5 of this land. To find the fraction of the Earth where humans live, we multiply these two fractions: 3/10 × 2/5 = 6/50, which simplifies to 3/25.
This calculation provides to the student's question in two lines, which is 3/25 of the Earth's surface is inhabited by humans. Understanding this requires basic knowledge of how to multiply fractions. it's important to recognize that this represents a simplified model of human habitation patterns based on available land and does not account for uninhabitable or uninhabited regions, nor does it consider the variations in population density or the impact of human activities on different ecosystems as mentioned in the reference texts. These factors contribute to a complex picture of human influence on the Earth's surfaces. Nonetheless, this mathematical calculation provides a basis for understanding the proportion of the Earth's land surface that is affected by human occupation.