Question

The landmass of Earth is approximately 5 × 10^7 square miles. Glaciers take up an area of approximately 5 × 10^6 square miles.

About what fraction of the Earth’s total land area is taken up by glaciers? Show Work!

Answer 1

Answer: $\frac{1}{10}$ of the Earth’s total land area is taken up by glaciers.

Step-by-step explanation:

1. To solve this problem you must divide the area taken up by glaciers by the area of the landmass of Earth.

2. You know that the aproximated area of the landmass of Earth is $5*10^{7}$ miles² and the area taken up by glaciers is approximately $5*10^{6}$ miles², therefore, you have:

$\frac{5*10^{6}miles^{2}}{5*10^{7}miles^{2}}=\frac{1}{10}$

3. Therefore, the fraction of the Earth’s total land area that is taken up by glaciers is: $\frac{1}{10}$.