Question

If the Pacific plate moves around 5cm a year how long will it take Los Angeles to move one kilometer?

Answer 1

We need to work with the same units, so first, we convert 1 km to cm.

1 km = 1000 m
1 m = 100 cm
1 km = 100,000 cm

Now we divide 100,000 cm by 5 cm.

$\dfrac{100,000~cm}{5~cm} = 20,000$

Answer: It will take 20,000 years.