A scientist studying how earthquakes happen imagines the top layer of Earth moving like a block of wood rubbing on sandpaper. This helps the scientist imagine what is happening. What kind of model is this? Explain.

This is model is called  - Block and Sandpaper Model.

Explanation:

In the model above, a block of wood is dragged over sandpaper using an elastic string which causes the block of wood to move in such a way that friction is apparently generated, thus converting energy from one form to the other.

This little model, also known as the "earthquake machine" typifies what happens in the earth's crust during an earthquake. It models the behavior of tectonic plates as they move over one another generating various kinds of energy.

Cheers

the answer is a the king was elected to his position