The problem states that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is spreading at approximately $5 \times 10^{-5}$ kilometers per year, and the East-Pacific Rise is spreading at approximately $1.5 \times 10^{-4}$ kilometers per year. We need to find how many times faster the East-Pacific Rise is spreading compared to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and express the answer in standard form without using exponents.

1. Problem Description

The problem states that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is spreading at approximately $5 \times 10^{-5}$ kilometers per year, and the East-Pacific Rise is spreading at approximately $1.5 \times 10^{-4}$ kilometers per year. We need to find how many times faster the East-Pacific Rise is spreading compared to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and express the answer in standard form without using exponents.

2. Solution Steps

To find how many times faster the East-Pacific Rise is spreading compared to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, we need to divide the spreading rate of the East-Pacific Rise by the spreading rate of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

$\frac{1.5 \times 10^{-4}}{5 \times 10^{-5}}$

First, divide the coefficients:

$\frac{1.5}{5} = 0.3$

Next, divide the powers of 10:

$\frac{10^{-4}}{10^{-5}} = 10^{-4 - (-5)} = 10^{-4 + 5} = 10^1 = 10$

Now, multiply the results:

$0.3 \times 10 = 3$

So, the East-Pacific Rise is spreading 3 times as fast as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

3. Final Answer

3