Question

assuming that the seafloor is spreading at a rate of 1.3cm/yr, calculate how long it took africa's west coast to move 2400 kn away from the mid atlantic ridge

Answer 1

Answer: 184,615,384.6 years

Explanation:

This problem can be solve by the following equation:

$V=\frac{d}{t}$ (1)

Where:

$V=1.3 \frac{cm}{year} \frac{1 km}{100000 cm}=0.000013 \frac{km}{year}$ is the spreading rate of the seafloor, its velocity

$d=2400 km$ is the distance the Africa's west coast moved at this rate

$t$ is the time it took to the coast to move the descibed distance

Isolating $t$ from (1):

$t=\frac{d}{V}$ (2)

$t=\frac{2400 km}{0.000013 \frac{km}{year}}$ (3)

Finally:

$t=184,615,384.6 years$ This is the time it took to the Africa's west coastto  move away from the Mid atlantic ridge.