Meters per Second to Kilometers per Hour
Convert meters per second to kilometers per hour in your browser. Multiply by 3.6 — both units are metric.
km/h = m/s × 3.6
NIST SP 811 (2008), Appendix B.8 — kilometer per hour (km / h) to meter per second (m / s) = 2.777 778 E−01
Physics works in metres per second because that is what the SI base units give you. Everyday life works in kilometres per hour. The bridge between them is one number, 3.6, and it is exact — both units are metric, so nothing is approximated.
How it is calculated
km/h = m/s × 3.6
An hour is 3600 seconds and a kilometre is 1000 metres, so the factor is 3600 divided by 1000. That is why it is exactly 3.6 and not a rounded figure — unusual among the conversions on this site.
Common values
| meters per second | kilometers per hour |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3.6 |
| 2 | 7.2 |
| 5 | 18 |
| 10 | 36 |
| 15 | 54 |
| 20 | 72 |
| 25 | 90 |
| 30 | 108 |
| 50 | 180 |
| 100 | 360 |
| 343 | 1,234.8 |
Questions people ask
- How fast is 10 m/s?
- 36 km/h. Useful as an anchor: a sprinter at world-record pace covers just over 10 metres a second, so top human running speed is a little above 36 km/h.
- Why do weather services use m/s for wind?
- Because it is the SI unit and it lines up with the physics of pressure and force, which is what forecasts are computed from. Public-facing reports usually convert to km/h or knots afterwards.
- What about the speed of sound?
- About 343 m/s in air at 20 °C, which is 1235 km/h. It changes with temperature — sound moves faster in warm air — so any single figure is tied to the conditions it was measured in.
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Related tools
km/h to mph
Convert kilometers per hour to miles per hour. The ratio is the exact 1.609344 that relates the distance units, because an hour is an hour on both sides.
Miles per Hour to Kilometers per Hour
Convert miles per hour to kilometers per hour in your browser. The factor is the same exact 1.609344 as for distance.
Knots to Kilometers per Hour
Convert knots to kilometers per hour in your browser. A knot is one nautical mile an hour — exactly 1.852 km/h.