Speed Converter
Convert m/s, km/h, mph, knots, feet/second.
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Base Unit
Relative Value
*Diagram shows values relative to the selected base unit (Meter/second).
Unit Information
What are Meters per second (m/s)?
Meters per second (symbol: m/s) is the SI derived unit of speed. It is commonly used in scientific contexts and for measuring short-duration speeds, such as those in athletics or physics experiments.
What are Kilometers per hour (km/h)?
Kilometers per hour (symbol: km/h or kph) is a unit of speed expressing the number of kilometers traveled in one hour. It is the most common unit of speed used for road signs and vehicle speedometers in countries that have adopted the metric system.
What are Miles per hour (mph)?
Miles per hour (symbol: mph or mi/h) is a unit of speed in the imperial and US customary systems. It expresses the number of statute miles traveled in one hour. MPH is predominantly used for road traffic speed limits and vehicle speedometers in the United States and the United Kingdom.
What are Feet per second (ft/s)?
Feet per second (symbol: ft/s or fps) is a unit of speed in the imperial and US customary systems. It's often used in physics problems and some engineering applications in the United States.
What are Knots (kn)?
A knot (symbol: kn or kt) is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour (approximately 1.852 km/h or 1.151 mph). It is the standard unit used for measuring speed in maritime and aviation contexts.
Formulas
1 mph ≈ 1.60934 km/h
To convert miles per hour to kilometers per hour, multiply by approximately 1.60934.
1 km/h ≈ 0.621371 mph
To convert kilometers per hour to miles per hour, multiply by approximately 0.621371.
1 m/s = 3.6 km/h
To convert meters per second to kilometers per hour, multiply by 3.6.
1 knot = 1.852 km/h
One knot is defined as 1.852 kilometers per hour.
1 mph ≈ 1.467 ft/s
To convert miles per hour to feet per second, multiply by approximately 1.467.
Key Reference Points
- Typical human walking speed: 3-5 km/h (2-3 mph).
- Highway speed limit (example): 100-120 km/h (60-75 mph).
- Commercial jet cruising speed: 800-950 km/h (500-600 mph).
- Top speed of a Formula 1 car: over 360 km/h (223 mph).
- A brisk cycling speed: 20-25 km/h (12-15 mph).
- Earth's orbital speed around the Sun: ~107,000 km/h (~67,000 mph).
- Speed of sound in air (20°C): ~1,235 km/h (767 mph).
- Speed of a garden snail: ~0.05 km/h (0.03 mph).
- Speed of light in a vacuum: ~1,080,000,000 km/h.
- A typical raindrop's terminal velocity: ~32 km/h (20 mph).
Did You Know?
The speed of sound in air (at sea level, 20°C) is about 1,235 km/h (or 767 mph). The speed of light in a vacuum is vastly faster, at approximately 299,792,458 meters per second, which is about 1,079,252,849 km/h (or 670,616,629 mph). 'Mach 1' refers to the speed of sound.
Escape velocity is the minimum speed needed for an object to break free from the gravitational attraction of a celestial body. Earth's escape velocity is about 40,270 km/h (or 11.2 km/s, or 25,020 mph).
Terminal velocity is the constant speed that a freely falling object eventually reaches when the resistance of the medium through which it is falling (e.g., air) prevents further acceleration.
The cheetah is the fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of up to 120 km/h (about 75 mph) in short bursts, though it cannot maintain this speed for long.
The Earth's tectonic plates are constantly moving, but incredibly slowly. The rate of continental drift is comparable to the speed at which human fingernails grow, typically a few centimeters per year.
When an object like a supersonic jet travels faster than the speed of sound, it creates a shockwave that is heard on the ground as a 'sonic boom'. Chuck Yeager was the first person to officially break the sound barrier in 1947.
Nerve impulses in the human body can travel at different speeds. The fastest signals, from myelinated neurons, can travel up to 120 meters per second (about 432 km/h or 268 mph).
At the equator, the Earth's surface rotates at a speed of approximately 1,670 kilometers per hour (about 1,037 miles per hour). We don't feel this motion because everything around us, including the atmosphere, is moving with us.
A 'furlong' is a unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile. The term 'furlongs per fortnight' is a humorous, archaic unit of velocity, roughly equal to 1 centimeter per minute.
Usain Bolt holds the record for the fastest human foot speed, reaching a top speed of nearly 45 km/h (about 28 mph) during his 100-meter sprint world record.
The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. For example, a 'gentle breeze' corresponds to a wind speed of 12-19 km/h.
Galileo Galilei was one of the first scientists to understand that all objects fall at the same rate of acceleration regardless of their mass, neglecting air resistance. He famously (though perhaps apocryphally) demonstrated this at the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth at a speed of about 28,000 km/h (about 17,500 mph). This high speed is necessary to maintain its orbit and counteract Earth's gravity.
The Bloodhound Land Speed Record car is a British project designed to break the world land speed record, with a target speed of 1,000 miles per hour (over 1,600 km/h).
The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world during its hunting dive. It can reach speeds of over 320 km/h (200 mph), allowing it to catch other birds in mid-air.
The term 'knot' for speed comes from the 17th-century practice of sailors using a 'chip log'. A rope with knots tied at regular intervals was unspooled from a reel as a ship sailed. The number of knots that passed through a sailor's hands in a given time determined the ship's speed.
As an object approaches the speed of light, its mass increases and time slows down for it, relative to a stationary observer. This is a key prediction of Einstein's theory of special relativity.
Although an electric signal travels through a wire at nearly the speed of light, the individual electrons themselves move very slowly. Their 'drift velocity' is often only a few millimeters per second.