Question

The floor of the Atlantic Ocean is spreading slowly. It spreads at the rate of 1 to 10 centimeters per year. Why would it be useful for scientists to use a model in order to study the spreading of the Atlantic Ocean's floor?
A.
The process occurred in the past but is no longer occurring.
B.
The spreading of the ocean is too abstract a concept for people to visualize without a model.
C.
It would take several years to collect the data about the process first hand.
D.
The ocean is spreading on such a large scale that it cannot be measured with normal tools.

Answer 1

C because...

Models represent objects, events, and processes in the real world.

Models are often used when an object, event, or process

occurs too slowly or too quickly;

is too small or too large;

is too complicated or too dangerous.

The ocean is spreading at such a slow rate that it would take scientists 50 or more years to collect enough meaningful data from the ocean floor to complete a study. Therefore, scientists use models in order to both predict how the floor will keep spreading and to understand what the ocean floor looked like thousands of years in the past.