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Speed

Translate road speeds and motion between kilometres, miles and metres per second.

Choose a conversion below. Every tool includes an instant result, an example and a short explanation.

Choosing the right conversion

Speed combines distance and elapsed time. A mile is exactly 1.609344 km, so one mph equals 1.609344 km/h. One metre per second equals 3.6 km/h because an hour has 3,600 seconds and a kilometre has 1,000 metres.

These units appear in road signs, weather reports and physics. Check whether the source gives instantaneous speed, average speed or a limit: conversion does not make those concepts equivalent. For travel estimates, time stopped in traffic changes the average even when the speedometer briefly shows the converted value.

Common questions

Does converting speed tell me travel time?

No. A speed conversion changes units for the same rate, such as miles per hour to kilometres per hour. Travel time also needs a distance and an assumption about the speed along the route. A posted limit, a vehicle’s instant reading and a journey average are different quantities even when all use km/h.

Why is one metre per second 3.6 km/h?

A kilometre contains 1,000 metres and an hour contains 3,600 seconds. In one hour, a constant speed of one metre per second covers 3,600 metres, or 3.6 kilometres. This exact relationship is useful when moving between weather, road and laboratory speed reports.

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