Table of contents
What is speed and how do we measure itHow to convert m/s to km/h and how to convert km/h to m/sHow to use the m/s to km/h converter from Omni CalculatorDifferent units for speed, and how to get a sense for themFAQsWelcome to the m/s to km/h converter by Omni Calculator; the fastest and easiest tool for converting m/s to km/h and km/h to m/s with no math involved, at least for you. Speed is often expressed in units of length over time, making it tricky to convert from one unit to another. Instead of having to do what is essentially two-unit conversions, we have created the perfect tool to take a value in one unit and "translate" into any other unit.
Not only can you convert m/s to km/h (also called mps to kph) or km/h to m/s (a.k.a. kph to mps), but you can also find conversions to and between knots, miles per hour, and feet per second.
What is speed and how do we measure it
Firstly, we should define speed so that we are all on the same page. Speed, as we mentioned before, is a derived magnitude that results from combining distance and time. That's the reason why its units (from km/h to m/s) are a combination of distance units (meters, kilometers...) and time (seconds, hours...). In particular, speed is defined as the distance covered in a given time. The most simple mathematical definition of speed can be written as:
speed = distance / time
To measure speed, all you need to do is measure the distance an object or person has traveled and divide it by the time it took to cover the said distance. If you take relatively long periods of time, you would be calculating the average speed. To calculate the instantaneous speed, you would need to reduce the period of time over which you measure to an instant. In math, this is called taking the time derivative of the distance, but the details are beyond the scope of this calculator.
Another technicality worth mentioning is the differences in speed vs. velocity. Both are commonly used interchangeably, but in physics and engineering, the subtle difference between them is quite important. Without going into needlessly complicated details, we can say that the difference between speed and velocity is that the former includes the direction of travel while the latter only expresses how fast or slow an object is moving. A pseudomathematical way to simply describe the differences between both would be:
velocity = speed + direction
I can already feel all the mathematicians cringing at the sight of such a linguistic "equation," so let's steer back toward more mathematically correct paths.
How to convert m/s to km/h and how to convert km/h to m/s
It doesn't take a genius to know that if you landed on this page, you are looking to convert a given speed in meters per second to kilometers per hour (or the other way around: km/h to m/s), so let's see how you can do that by hand.
We have already seen how to calculate speed, and in particular, we noted that speed is the result of dividing distance by time. Since you are a smart person, you have probably already guessed the most intuitive way of converting between m/s to km/h or between any other two units of speed: converting the distance unit and the time unit separately. Using this method, we can compute the results without using an m/s to km/h converter. First, we would convert the m/s to km/s, and from there, we convert it to km/h.
Let's see it with an example to make it more clear; let's convert the speed of sound in air, which is 343 m/s to km/h:
Convert m/s to km/s using the conversion factor from meters to kilometer:
343 m/s = 343 m/s × 1/1000km/m = 0.343km/s
Now it's time to convert from km/s to km/h using the conversion factor for seconds to hours:
0.343 km/s = 0.343 km/s × 60s/min × 60min/h = 0.343 × 3600km/h = 1234.8km/h
Done! We have seen how to convert from m/s to km/h without a speed converter.
Even though the math involved is within everyone's reach, there's no arguing how tedious it is to perform all these calculations by hand. On top of that, you need to remember the conversion factors, which are not difficult when converting m/s to km/h, but would you know off the top of your head the conversion factor for knots to mph? If you do, I bow to you. But I would venture to guess most of us don't and have no intention of memorizing it. So what can we do? Well, this is the "raison d'être" (the reason to exist) for the m/s to km/h converter created by Omni Calculator.
How to use the m/s to km/h converter from Omni Calculator
By far, the easiest and fastest way to convert from m/s to km/h is using this m/s to km/h converter. It might sound like an overstatement, but we guarantee you can get your conversion exactly as fast as you can type in the speed in m/s.
Let's take a look at the detailed instructions on how to use this converter for converting m/s to km/h or mps to kph:
Decide which conversion you want to perform. We said m/s to km/h, but you can also convert km/h to m/s or use whatever combination you want.
Input the speed in the initial units in the corresponding field of the converter, for us, is "speed in meters per second".
Find the field with the units you want to convert to, in our case, "speed in kilometers per hour".
Read! 😜
Yes! Oh yes! This m/s to km/h converter does not require you to press any calculate/convert button to convert from km/h to m/s, knots to feet per second, or any other conversion your heart desires. We told you we are the fastest (and easiest).
Different units for speed, and how to get a sense for them
Seeing how easy it is to make any conversion with this m/s to km/h converter by Omni Calculator, you might be wondering which units you can convert to and from. The short answer is virtually all speed units. The longer answer is too long to list in this article, but the most important ones are:
- m/s or mps or meters per second
- km/h or kph or kilometers per hour
- mi/h or mph or miles per hour
- ft/s or ftps or feet per second
- c or speed of light
- kn or knots
- in/min or inches per minute
- ...
The best way to get a sense of their magnitude is to see the conversions between m/s and km/h or from knots to mph. So, let's do just that!
From meters per second (mps or m/s) to other units
- 1 m/s is the same as 3.6 km/h
- 1 m/s is the same as 1.944 kn
- 1 m/s is the same as 39.97 in/s
- 1 m/s is the same as 86400meters per day
From kilometers per hour (kph or km/h) to other units
- 1 km/h is the same as 0.2778 m/s
- 1 km/h is the same as 0.6214 mph
- 1 km/h is the same as 0.54 kn
- 1 km/h is the same as 0.9113 ft/s
- 1 km/h is the same as 24000m/day
And to throw you for a loop, here is the largest speed unit we commonly use, and the top speed of the universe as we know it, the speed of light in vacuum or c:
- 1 c is the same as 299792458 m/s
- 1 c is the same as 1079252849km/h
- 1 c is the same as 670616629 mph
- 1 c is the same as 582749918 kn
I said it was big! It is truly hard to comprehend how fast light moves, whether you use m/s, km/h, or any other unit.
How do I convert km/h to m/s?
To convert from km/h to m/s, all you need to do is multiply the speed in km/h by 0.2778 to obtain the speed in m/s.
This is because the conversion factor to go from kph (or km/h) to mps (or m/s) is the conversion factor from kilometers to meters divided by the conversion factor from hours to seconds:
1 km/h = 1 km/h × (1000 m/km) / (3600s/h) = 1000/3600m/s = 0.2778m/s
How to convert from m/s to km/h?
To convert from m/s to km/h, you only need to multiply the speed in m/s by 3.6 to obtain the speed in km/s.
This is because the conversion factor to go from mps (or m/s) to kph (or km/h) is the conversion factor from seconds to hours divided by the conversion factor from meters to kilometers:
1 m/s = 1 m/s / (1000 m/km) × (3600s/h) = 1000/3600m/s = 3.6km/h
What is 1 m/s in km/h?
1 m/s in km/h is 3.6 km/h. You can double-check this result by converting from meters per second to kilometers per hour:
1 m/s = 1 m/s / (1000 m/km) × (3600s/h) = 1000/3600m/s = 3.6km/h
What is 100km/h in m/s?
100 km/h is 27.78 m/s. To arrive at this result, all you need to do is convert from kilometers to meters and from hours to seconds, just like this:
100 km/h = 100 km/h × (1000 m/km) / (3600s/h) = 100000/3600m/s = 27.78m/s
What is 100 m/s in km/h?
100 m/s in km/h is 360 km/h. You can also do this by hand:
- Take the speed you want to convert in meters per second (100m/s).
- Divide your number by 1000 to convert it to kilometers per second (0.1km/s).
- Multiply by 3600 to convert it into kilometers per hour (360km/h).
- You are done! The result is that 100m/s = 360km/h.
How do you convert kph to mps?
To convert from kph (km/h) to mps (m/s), multiply the speed in km/h by 0.2778 to obtain the speed in m/s.
This is because the conversion factor to go from kph (or km/h) to mps (or m/s) is the conversion factor from kilometers to meters divided by the conversion factor from hours to seconds:
1 km/h = 1 km/h × (1000 m/km) / (3600s/h) = 1000/3600m/s = 0.2778m/s