1 m/s in every unit
Values update with the converter above. Select a row to open that conversion's detailed page.
Popular conversions
9 pairsKilometer per Hour ↔ Meter per Second
km/h ↔ m/s
Mile per Hour ↔ Kilometer per Hour
mph ↔ km/h
Knot ↔ Kilometer per Hour
knot ↔ km/h
Speed of Light ↔ Meter per Second
c ↔ m/s
Meter per Second ↔ Kilometer per Second
m/s ↔ km/s
Meter per Second ↔ Foot per Second
m/s ↔ ft/s
Meter per Second ↔ Meter per Minute
m/s ↔ m/min
Meter per Second ↔ Kilometer per Minute
m/s ↔ km/min
Meter per Second ↔ Centimeter per Second
m/s ↔ cm/s
Unit guides
10 unitsDetailed guide to Speed
Speed describes how fast a distance is covered over time.
Different industries and countries use different units, so reliable conversion is important for traffic, testing, fluid flow and machinery.
- Physical quantity
- Speed
- Common SI-based unit
- Meter per second
- Road unit
- Kilometer per hour
- Imperial unit
- Mile per hour
- Typical use
- Transport, flow and equipment motion
Road, aviation and activity speed
Miles per hour and kilometers per hour are both common road-speed units. Metres per second is often used in physics and engineering, while knots are used in aviation and marine navigation.
Check whether a source gives speed, pace or velocity; running pace, for example, is normally expressed as time per distance rather than distance per time.
What is speed?
Speed is the ratio of distance traveled to elapsed time.
It is used for vehicles, conveyors, fluids, rotating systems and motion analysis.
Meters per second, kilometers per hour and mph
Meters per second are common in physics and engineering. Kilometers per hour are common in road transport, while mph is still used in countries that rely on imperial road units.
One meter per second equals 3.6 kilometers per hour. One mile per hour equals exactly 1.609344 kilometers per hour, which makes the relationship reliable for vehicle, testing and distance calculations.
Knots, nautical miles and aviation
A knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour. The international nautical mile is exactly 1,852 meters, so one knot equals exactly 1.852 km/h or about 0.514444 m/s.
Knots are used at sea and in aviation because nautical miles fit naturally with latitude and longitude on navigation charts. A knot is a speed; a nautical mile is a distance, so the two terms should not be used interchangeably.
Engineering and scientific speed units
Meters per second provide the SI-based form used in equations for motion, flow and machinery. Foot per second, meter per minute and centimeter per second are useful when a drawing, sensor or machine specification uses those scales directly.
The speed of light is included as a scientific reference. Its exact value in vacuum is 299,792,458 meters per second and it is not a practical transport-speed unit.
Speed and velocity are different
Speed tells how fast an object moves. Velocity also includes direction, so two vehicles can have the same speed but different velocities when they travel in different directions.
This converter changes the magnitude of a speed. It does not alter direction, acceleration or travel time.
How are speed units converted?
Speed conversions preserve the same physical motion while changing the numerical representation.
For example, divide km/h by 3.6 to get m/s, multiply m/s by 3.6 to get km/h, and multiply mph by 1.609344 to get km/h. The converter handles these relationships without manual rounding.
Unit comparison table
| Unit | Symbol | SI equivalent | System | Common use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meter per second | m/s | 3.6 km/h | SI-based | Physics, engineering and flow calculations |
| Kilometer per hour | km/h | 0.277778 m/s | Metric road use | Road transport and vehicle displays |
| Mile per hour | mph | 1.609344 km/h | Anglo-American road use | Road speed and vehicle displays |
| Knot | kn | 1.852 km/h | International navigation | Maritime and aviation navigation |
| Foot per second | ft/s | 0.3048 m/s | Anglo-American engineering | Technical and mechanical specifications |
| Meter per minute | m/min | 0.0166667 m/s | Metric engineering | Conveyors and process equipment |
| Centimeter per second | cm/s | 0.01 m/s | Metric | Small-scale motion and laboratory work |
| Speed of light in vacuum | c | 299,792,458 m/s exactly | Physical constant | Physics and astronomy reference |
Speed units
| Unit | Symbol | Information |
|---|---|---|
| Meter per Second | m/s | View unit guide |
| Kilometer per Hour | km/h | View unit guide |
| Mile per Hour | mph | View unit guide |
| Speed of Light | c | View unit guide |
| Knot | kn | View unit guide |
| Kilometer per Second | km/s | View unit guide |
| Foot per Second | ft/s | View unit guide |
| Meter per Minute | m/min | View unit guide |
| Kilometer per Minute | km/min | View unit guide |
| Centimeter per Second | cm/s | View unit guide |