Unit category

Speed Units and Conversions

Convert between kilometers per hour, meters per second and miles per hour and compare the units used in transport and engineering.

Convert all Speed units

Live result

3.6 km/h1 m/s = 3.6 km/h

Popular conversions

2 pairs

Unit guides

3 units

Detailed 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

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.

All three units can be converted exactly through their definitions in meters and seconds.

How are speed units converted?

Speed conversions preserve the same physical motion while changing the numerical representation.

For example, 1 km/h equals about 0.27778 m/s, and 1 mph equals 1.609344 km/h.

Speed units

UnitSymbolInformation
Meter per Secondm/sView unit guide
Kilometer per Hourkm/hView unit guide
Mile per HourmphView unit guide

Sources

The definitions and conversion relationships on this page are aligned with standard metrology and SI reference material.

  1. BIPM: The International System of Units (SI Brochure)
  2. NIST: Guide for the Use of the International System of Units

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