Speed - Examples of Different Speeds

Examples of Different Speeds

Speed m/s ft/s km/h mph Notes
Approximate rate of continental drift 0.00000001 0.00000003 0.00000004 0.00000002 4 cm/year. Varies depending on location
Speed of a common snail 0.001 0.003 0.004 0.002 1 millimeter per second.
A brisk walk 1.7 5.5 6.1 3.8 (5.5 feet per second)
A typical road cyclist 4.4 14.4 16 10 Varies wildly by person, terrain, bicycle, effort, weather.
Sprint runners 10 32.8 36 22 Average speed over 100 meters.
Approximate average speed of road cyclists 12.5 41.0 45 28 On flat terrain. Will vary.
Typical suburban speed limit in most of the world 13.8 45.3 50 30
Taipei 101 observatory elevator 16.7 54.8 60.6 37.6 1010 m/min.
Typical rural speed limit 24.6 80.66 88.5 56
British National Speed Limit (single carriageway) 26.8 88 96.56 60
Category 1 hurricane 33 108 119 74 Minimum sustained speed over 1 minute
Speed limit on a French autoroute 36.1 118 130 81
Highest recorded human-powered speed 37.02 121.5 133.2 82.8 Sam Whittingham in a recumbent bicycle
Muzzle velocity of a paintball marker 90 295 320 200
Cruising speed of a Boeing 747-8 passenger jet 255 836 917 570 Mach 0.85 at 35,000 ft altitude
The official land speed record 341.1 1119.1 1227.98 763
The speed of sound in dry air at sea-level pressure and 20 °C 343 1125 1235 768 Mach 1 by definition. 20 °C = 293 kelvin.
Muzzle velocity of an AK47 assault rifle bullet 710 2,330 2,600 1600
Official flight airspeed record 980 3,215 3,530 2,194
Space shuttle on re-entry 7,800 25,600 28,000 17,500
Escape velocity on Earth 11,200 36,700 40,000 25,000 11.2 km∙s−1
Average orbital speed of planet Earth 29,783 97,713 107,218 66,623
Speed of light in vacuum (symbol c) 299,792,458 983,571,056 1,079,252,848 670,616,629 Exactly 299,792,458 m∙s−1, by definition of the meter.

Vehicles often have a speedometer to measure the speed they are moving.

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