The Amazon River releases 5.5 x 10^7 gallons of water into the Atlantic Ocean every second. There are about 3.2 x 10^7 seconds in a year.
How many gallons are released into the ocean in one year? Express your answer with the appropriate number of significant digits.
To find the number of gallons released into the ocean in one year, we need to multiply the amount of water released per second by the number of seconds in a year.
The amount of water released per second is 5.5 x 10^7 gallons.
The number of seconds in a year is 3.2 x 10^7 seconds.
Multiplying these two values gives us:
5.5 x 10^7 gallons/second * 3.2 x 10^7 seconds/year = 1.76 x 10^15 gallons/year.
Therefore, there are approximately 1.76 x 10^15 gallons of water released into the ocean in one year.