5. Seismologists use the Richter scale to measure the magnitudes and intensity of
earthquakes that occur all over the earth. (see below, some info about Richter scales,
and intensity formula)
Let's say an earthquake hit Santa Monica, CA and had a magnitude of 6.2. If another
earthquake hit Charleston, SC and was a magnitude of 3.8, then how much more
intense was the earthquake in LA?
Student's Work
Student's Answer
A. 251.19 times
B. 11.02 times
C. 42.81 times
D. 2.4 times
Some additional Richter scale info...
A common logarithm is a logarithm with base 10. You can write a common logarithm logio * simply as log x, without
showing the 10
Many measurements of physical phenomena have such a wide range of values that the reported measurements are
logarithms (exponents) of the values, not the values themselves. When you use the logarithm of a quantity instead of the
quantity, you are using a logarithmic scale. The Richter scale is a logarithmic scale. It gives logarithmic measurements
of earthquake magnitudo.
1
3) 1 Hot 10
Intensity formula:
-
= M - M₂
-
log
12