Good evening! Does anyone know this? Earth Science

The average radius of Earth is 6,371 km. If the average thickness of oceanic crust is 7.5 km and the average thickness of continental crust is 35 km, what fraction of Earth's radius is each type of crust? Convert the values from the km to the mile.

Use the following equation: (avg. thickness / avg. radius ) x 100

Respuesta :

The fraction of Earth's radius (6371 km) relative to the thickness of the oceanic (7.5 km) and continental crust (35 km) is 0.12 and 0.55, respectively.    

What we know:

  • The average radius of Earth (E) = 6371 km
  • The average thickness of oceanic crust (O) = 7.5 km
  • The average thickness of continental crust (C) = 35 km

We need to convert all the above units from kilometers to miles:

[tex] E = \frac{0.6214 mi}{1 km}*6371 km = 3958.9 mi [/tex]

[tex] O = \frac{0.6214 mi}{1 km}*7.5 km = 4.7 mi [/tex]

[tex] C = \frac{0.6214 mi}{1 km}*35 km = 21.7 mi [/tex]

Now, we can calculate the fraction of Earth's radius relative to each type of crust, with the given equation:

[tex] X = \frac{avg. \: thickness}{avg. \: radius} \times 100 [/tex]

  • For the oceanic crust (O):

[tex] X = \frac{4.7 mi}{3958.9 mi}\times 100 = 0.12 [/tex]

  • For the continental crust (C):

[tex] X = \frac{21.7 mi}{3958.9 mi}\times 100 = 0.55 [/tex]

Therefore, the fraction of Earth's radius relative to the oceanic and continental crust is 0.12 and 0.55, respectively.

You can see another example of calculation of fractions of Earth's radius here: https://brainly.com/question/4675868?referrer=searchResults

I hope it helps you!