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?

a) 1.67 million years
b) 1.83 million years
c) 1.67 billion years
d) 1.83 billion years

Answer 1

The North American and European continents will drift 500 km farther apart in approximately 1.67 million years.

Step-by-step explanation:

The North American and European continents are moving apart at a rate of 3 cm/y. The North American and European continents will drift 500 km farther apart in approximately 1.67 million years. To determine how long it will take for them to drift 500 km farther apart, we need to convert the distance from km to cm. Since 1 km = 100,000 cm, 500 km = 50,000,000 cm.

Now, we can divide the distance by the rate of movement: 50,000,000 cm / (3 cm/y) = 16,666,667 years. However, we are asked to provide the answer in millions or billions of years. So, we can approximate this value to the nearest million years, which gives us an answer of 1.67 million years.