Algebra with Applications Posts 5

Name

Institution affiliation

Date

Introduction

The effects of an earthquake are very terrible and instantaneous. This implies that what it does is very destructive. The effects of an earthquake are measured in terms of magnitude, amplitude and also the effects of its distractions. The magnitude of an earthquake is attributed with the amplitude of the waves. The heavier the magnitude, the more damage that an earthquake will impose to the objects that it will come in to contact with. This implies that an earthquake with a magnitude of eight is very disastrous (Nault, 2010).

An earthquake of magnitude eight has emits a lot of energy as compared to an earthquake of magnitude of four. This can be proven mathematically since it is measured using the base of √1000. This means that an earthquake of magnitude eight is √1000 raised to the power of eight. This implies that it emits energy of 100,000000. An earthquake of magnitude four emits energy of √1000 raised to power four. This implies that if you divide 1000 raised to the power of eight and √1000 raised to power four, the answer is 1,000,000. This means that an earthquake of magnitude eight emits energy of 1,000,000 as compared to an earthquake of magnitude four.

The Richter scale is a scale that is used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake. This scale measures the amplitude of the wave emitted by an earthquake. This means that they measure with scale of logarithmic. This is usually on a scale of base 10. This means that as you trend upwards to the ground, the amplitude increase by ten times. This scale also denoted the negative figures produced if an earthquake is very minimal. When measuring the destructive nature of an earthquake, many scientists use the Richter scale as it clearly outlines the magnitude of the earthquake. The mercalli scale is used to depict the intensity of earthquakes. This means it depicts how destructive an earthquake was. The Richter scale depicts the energy that an earthquake produces. The mercalli scale is the best scale for depicting how destructive an earthquake was. Math and science are two subjects that have made it possible to depict the destructive nature of earthquakes. Science has led to the innovation of these scales while math has made it possible for us to calculate the magnitude and the energy produced (Person, & Jankowski, 1990).

Conclusion

The Richter and mercalli scales are very important scales which helps depict the energy transmitted by an earthquake, and how destructive it is. This implies that the more the magnitude of an earthquake, the more destructive it is.

References

Nault, J. (2010). Earthquakes. New York: AV2 by Weigl.

Person, W., & Jankowski, L. (1990). How earthquakes are measured. Maumee, Ohio: Instructional Video.