The North American and European continents are moving apart at a rate of about 3.0 cm/yr. At this rate how many years will it take them to drift 500.0 km farther apart than they are present?
d = 3cm/yr * T = 5.0*10^7 cm.
T = 1.67*10^7 years.
To find out how many years it will take for the North American and European continents to drift 500.0 km farther apart than they are currently, we can use the rate of separation provided.
Given:
Rate of separation = 3.0 cm/yr
Distance to drift apart = 500.0 km
Since the rate of separation is given in centimeters per year, we need to convert the distance to centimeters in order to use the same unit.
1 kilometer = 100,000 centimeters
Therefore, 500.0 km = 500.0 × 100,000 cm = 50,000,000 cm
Now we can divide the distance by the rate of separation to find the time it takes:
Time = Distance / Rate of separation
Time = 50,000,000 cm / 3.0 cm/yr
Dividing the distance by the rate of separation gives us the number of years it will take for the continents to drift apart.
Time = 16,666,666.7 years
Therefore, it will take approximately 16,666,667 years for the North American and European continents to drift 500.0 km farther apart than they are presently.