The North American and European plates of the
Earth’s crust are drifting apart with a relative speed of
about 25 mm/yr. Take the speed as constant and find when
the rift between them started to open, to reach a current
width of 2.9 x 10^3 mi.

Question

The North American and European plates of the
Earth’s crust are drifting apart with a relative speed of
about 25 mm/yr. Take the speed as constant and find when
the rift between them started to open, to reach a current
width of 2.9 x 10^3 mi.

anonymous · Answer

4 667 097 600  millimeters = 2.9 X 10^3 miles. 

It's that over 25.

4 667 097 600 / 25 

=> 186 683 904 years.

anonymous · Answer

1 miles = 1 609 344 millimeters

anonymous · Answer

That's what I thought, it threw me off when it says take speed as constant. thanks

anonymous · Answer

If it wasn't a constant then you'd have a problem.