Metric Speed (Velocity)
These are the most common measurements:
- Meters per Second (m/s)
- Kilometers per Hours (km/h)
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Speed
Speed in meters per second (m/s)
 This is a combination of two units (meters and seconds) to make a new one (m/s).
If something is traveling at 1 m/s it moves 1 meter every second.
Speed in kilometers per hour (km/h)
A bit more complicated, but a kilometer has 1,000 meters, and an hour has 3,600 seconds, so a kilometer per hour is:
How did I know to make it 1000/3600, and not 3600/1000 (the other way around)? Read how to Safely Convert From One Unit to Another.
Velocity
Velocity is speed with a direction.
So if something is moving at 5 km/h that is a speed.
But if you say it is moving at 5 km/h westwards that is a velocity.
If something moves backwards and forwards very fast it has a high speed, but a low (or zero) velocity
More Examples
100 km/h is about:
- how fast you can legally go on a highway
- the maximum running speed of a cheetah
- the speed needed to drive one mile in a minute
- half the freefall speed of a skydiver
60 km/h is about:
- the speed limit in the city
- going very fast on a bicycle
- the speed of a racehorse on a short track
- full running speed of a Bengal Tiger
1 metre per second is:
- about 3.2808 feet per second
1 kilometre per hour is
- about 0.9113 feet per second
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