| Factor (m/s)
|
Value (m/s)
|
Value (km/h)
|
Value (mph)
|
Value (c)
|
Item
|
| 10−18
|
2.2×10−18 |
7.8×10−18 |
4.9×10−18 |
|
Expansion rate between 2 points in free space 1 m apart under Hubble's law.
|
| 10−13
|
1×10−13 |
3×10−13 |
2×10−13 |
|
Rate of erosion of Bedrock.[1]
|
| 10−11
|
9.8×10−11 |
3.5×10−10 |
2.2×10−10 |
|
Rate of global sea level rise in 1993–2003 (3.1 mm/yr).[2]
|
| 10−10
|
3×10−10 to 3×10−9 |
1×10−9 to 1×10−8 |
7×10−10 to 7×10−9 |
|
Typical relative speed of continental drift.
|
| 10−9
|
1.3×10−9 |
4.68×10−9 |
2.9×10−9 |
|
Average rate of the Moon receding from the Earth (approx. 38 mm/yr).
|
| 4.8×10−9 |
1.7×10−8 |
1.1×10−8 |
|
Human hair growth (average rate—note that there is a great range of variation).
|
| 10−6
|
1.52×10−6 |
5.4×10−6 |
3.4×10−6 |
|
Speed of a cellular vesicle propelled by a motor protein.[3]
|
| 10−5
|
1.4×10−5 |
5.0×10−5 |
3.1×10−5 |
|
Growth rate of bamboo, the fastest-growing woody plant, over 24 hours.[4]
|
| 10−4
|
4.0×10−4 |
1.4×10−3 |
8.9×10−4 |
|
Speed of Jakobshavn Isbræ, one of the fastest glaciers, in 2003.[5]
|
| 6×10−4 |
2.2×10−3 |
1.3×10−3 |
|
Typical speed of Thiovulum majus, the fastest-swimming bacterium.[6]
|
| 10−3
|
0.00275 |
0.00990 |
0.00615 |
|
World record speed of the fastest snail in the Congham, UK.[7]
|
| 10−2
|
0.0476 |
0.171 |
0.106 |
|
Compact cassette tape speed.[8]
|
| 0.080 |
0.29 |
0.18 |
|
The top speed of a sloth.
|
| 10−1
|
0.2778 |
1 |
0.6214 |
|
1 km/hour.
|
| 0.44704 |
1.609344 |
1 |
|
1 mph.
|
| 0.5144 |
1.852 |
1.151 |
|
1 knot (nautical mile per hour)
|
| 100
|
1.2 |
4.32 |
2.68 |
|
Typical scanning speed of an audio compact disc; the speed of signals (action potentials) traveling along axons in the human cortex.
|
| 1–1.5 |
3.6–5.4 |
2.2–3.4 |
|
Average walking speed—below a speed of about 2 m/s, it is more efficient to walk than to run, but above that speed, it is more efficient to run.
|
| 2.39 |
8.53 |
5.35 |
|
World record time 50m freestyle swim
|
| 5.72 |
20.42 |
12.80 |
|
World record time marathon
|
| 6–7 |
20–25 |
12–15 |
|
Comfortable bicycling speed.
|
| 101
|
10.438 |
37.578 |
23.35 |
|
Average speed of Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt while setting the 100m world record in Berlin on 16 August 2009.
|
| 12.42 |
44.72 |
27.78 |
|
Top speed reached by Bolt during the same race.
|
| 8–14 |
30–50 |
18–31 |
|
Typical residential speed limit; top speed of a running cat or dog.
|
| 14 |
50 |
31 |
|
Typical speed of road-race cyclist.
|
| 17 |
60 |
37 |
|
Typical speed of thoroughbred racehorse or racing greyhound.
|
| 5–25 |
18–90 |
11–56 |
|
Speed of propagation for unmyelinated sensory neurons.
|
| 30 |
110 |
70 |
|
Typical speed of car (freeway); cheetah—fastest of all terrestrial animals; sailfish—fastest fish; speed of go-fast boat.
|
| 37.16 |
133.78 |
83.13 |
|
Land speed record for a human powered vehicle.[9]
|
| 40 |
140 |
90 |
|
Typical peak speed of a local service train (or intercity on lower standard tracks).
|
| 54 |
195 |
122 |
|
Maximum speed a human can attain during a face-down free-fall.
|
| 67 |
240 |
149 |
|
The top speed of the world's fastest roller coaster, Formula Rossa.
|
| 90 |
320 |
200 |
|
Typical speed of a modern high-speed train (e.g. latest generation of production TGV); a diving peregrine falcon—fastest bird; 320 km/h or 200 mph is a parameter sometimes used in defining a supercar.[10]
|
| 91 |
328 |
204 |
|
Fastest recorded ball (a golf ball) in sports.[11]
|
| 102
|
103 |
370 |
230 |
|
Speed of super torpedo VA-111 Shkval.
|
| 103.5 |
372.6 |
231.5 |
|
Maximum speed recorded by a Formula One car. Set by Juan Pablo Montoya during the 2005 Italian Grand Prix at Monza in a McLaren MP4-20.
|
| 105.5 |
379.8 |
236 |
|
Maximum speed of a Ferrari F50 GT1.
|
| 113 |
408 |
254 |
|
Fastest non-tornadic wind gust recorded on Earth - at Barrow Island, Australia on 1996-04-10 during Severe Tropical Cyclone Olivia.[12]
|
| 119.742 |
431.072 |
267.86 |
|
Maximum speed of the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (currently the fastest production car in the world).
|
| 120 |
432 |
270 |
|
Speed of propagation for mammalian motor neurons.
|
| 130 |
468 |
290 |
|
Wind speed of a powerful tornado.
|
| 150.6 |
539 |
337 |
|
Top speed of an internal-combustion-powered NHRA Top Fuel Dragster.
|
| 157 |
575 |
351 |
|
Top speed of experimental test TGV train in 2007.
|
| 161 |
580 |
360 |
|
Top speed of JR-Maglev in 2003.
|
| 250 |
900 |
560 |
|
Typical cruising speed of a modern jet airliner, e.g. an Airbus A380.
|
| 314 |
1,130 |
702 |
|
Top speed of any World War II-era aircraft, the Me 163B V18 set on July 6, 1944.
|
| 320 |
1,200 |
720 |
|
The speed of a typical .22 LR bullet.
|
| 340.3 |
1,225 |
761 |
|
Speed of sound in standard atmosphere (15 °C and 1 atm).
|
| 344.66 |
1,240.77 |
770.98 |
|
Max speed reached by the jet-propelled car ThrustSSC in 1997—Land speed record.[13]
|
| 373 |
1,342.8 |
833.9 |
|
Highest speed recorded during a free fall set by Felix Baumgartner.
|
| 428 |
1,540.8 |
957 |
|
Max speed of Bell X-1.
|
| 464 |
1,670 |
1,040 |
|
Speed of Earth's rotation at the equator.
|
| 603 |
2,170.8 |
1,350 |
|
Speed of the Concorde airliner.
|
| 975 |
3,510 |
2,180 |
|
Muzzle velocity of M16 rifle.
|
| 981 |
3,532 |
2,194 |
|
SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest aircraft driven by a mechanical jet engine.
|
| 103
|
1,400 |
5,040 |
3,100 |
|
Speed of the Space Shuttle when the solid rocket boosters separate.
|
| 1,500 |
5,400 |
3,400 |
|
Speed of sound in water or in soft tissue.[14]
|
| 1,789 |
6,443 |
4,002 |
|
Speed of BrahMos II hypersonic cruise missile
|
| 2,000 |
7,200 |
4,500 |
|
Estimated speed of a thermal neutron.
|
| 2,019 |
7,268.4 |
4,516 |
|
Speed of the North American X-15 rocket plane.
|
| 2,375 |
8,550 |
5,345 |
|
Escape velocity from Moon.
|
| 2,700 |
9,600 |
6,000 |
|
Speed of wind on exoplanet HD 189733 b.[15]
|
| 2,885 |
10,385 |
6,453 |
|
Top speed of the fastest rocket sled.[16]
|
| 3,373 |
12,144 |
7,546 |
|
Speed of the X-43 rocket/scramjet plane.
|
| 4,500 |
16,000 |
10,000 |
|
A typical value for the specific impulse of current rockets.
|
| 7,700 |
27,700 |
17,200 |
|
Speed of International Space Station and typical speed of other satellites such as the Space Shuttle in low Earth orbit.
|
| 7,777 |
28,000 |
17,400 |
|
Speed of propagation of the explosion in a detonating cord.
|
| 104
|
11,107 |
39,985.2 |
24,846
|
0.00004 c |
Speed of Apollo 10 – high speed record for human-crewed vehicle.
|
| 11,200 |
40,320 |
25,100
|
0.00004 c |
Escape velocity from Earth.
|
| 16,100 |
57,900 |
36,000
|
0.00005 c |
Fastest projectile velocity (1994).[17]
|
| 16,210 |
58,356 |
36,261
|
0.00005 c |
Escape speed from Earth by NASA New Horizons spacecraft—Fastest escape velocity.
|
| 17,000 |
61,000 |
38,000
|
0.00006 c |
The approximate speed of the Voyager 1 probe relative to the sun, when it exited the Solar System.[18]
|
| 29,800 |
107,280 |
66,700
|
0.00010 c |
Speed of the Earth in orbit around the Sun.
|
| 47,800 |
172,100 |
106,900
|
0.00016 c |
Atmospheric entry speed of the Galileo atmospheric probe—Fastest controlled atmospheric entry for a man-made object.
|
| 70,220 |
252,800 |
157,100
|
0.00023 c |
Speed of the Helios 2 solar probe.
|
| 73,762 |
265,542 |
165,000
|
0.00023 c |
Estimated top speed of the Juno spacecraft before insertion into Jupiter's orbit —Fastest man-made object.[19]
|
| 105
|
140,000 |
540,000 |
313,170
|
0.00047 c |
Approaching velocity of Messier 98 to our galaxy.
|
| 200,000 |
700,000 |
450,000
|
0.00070 c |
Orbital speed of the solar system in the Milky Way galaxy.
|
| 308,571 |
1,080,000 |
694,288
|
0.001 c |
Approaching velocity of Andromeda Galaxy to our galaxy.
|
| 440,000 |
1,600,000 |
980,000
|
0.0015 c |
Typical speed of the stepped leader of lightning (cf. return stroke below).[20]
|
| 450,000 |
1,600,000 |
1,000,000
|
0.0015 c |
Typical speed of a particle of the solar wind, relative to the Sun.
|
| 552,000 |
1,990,000 |
1,230,000
|
0.0018 c |
Speed of the Milky Way, relative to the cosmic microwave background.
|
| 617,700 |
2,224,000 |
1,382,000
|
0.0021 c |
Escape velocity from the surface of the Sun.
|
| 106
|
1,000,000 |
3,600,000 |
2,200,000
|
0.0030 c |
Typical speed of a Moreton wave across the surface of the Sun.
|
| 1,610,000 |
5,800,000 |
3,600,000
|
0.0054 c |
Speed of hypervelocity star PSR B2224+65, which currently seems to be leaving the Milky Way.
|
| 5,000,000 |
18,000,000 |
11,000,000
|
0.017 c |
Estimated minimum speed of star S2 at its closest approach to Sagittarius A*.[21]
|
| 107
|
14,000,000 |
50,000,000 |
31,000,000
|
0.047 c |
Typical speed of a fast neutron.
|
| 30,000,000 |
100,000,000 |
70,000,000
|
0.1 c |
Typical speed of an electron in a cathode ray tube.
|
| 108
|
100,000,000 |
360,000,000 |
220,000,000
|
0.3 c |
The escape velocity of a neutron star.
|
| 100,000,000 |
360,000,000 |
220,000,000
|
0.3 c |
Typical speed of the return stroke of lightning (cf. stepped leader above).[22]
|
| 124,000,000 |
447,000,000 |
277,000,000
|
0.4 c |
Speed of light in a diamond (Refractive index 2.417).
|
| 200,000,000 |
720,000,000 |
440,000,000
|
0.7 c |
Speed of a signal in an optical fiber.
|
| 299,792,456 |
1,079,252,840 |
670,615,282
|
0.999 c |
Speed of the 7 TeV protons in the Large Hadron Collider at full power.[23]
|
| 299,792,458 − 1.5×10−15 |
1,079,252,848.8 − 5.4×10−15 |
670,616,629.4
|
1 − 4.9×10−24 c |
Speed of the Oh-My-God particle ultra-high-energy cosmic ray.[24]
|
| 299,792,458 |
1,079,252,848.8 |
670,616,629.4
|
1 c |
Speed of light or other electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum or massless particles. Also, Planck speed.
|
