What is centimetre per second?

Centimetre per second is a unit of speed used in low-velocity applications such as biological locomotion studies, microfluidics research, and slow-moving mechanical systems.

Real-world uses

Centimetres per second is used in the CGS system for fluid flow rates, sedimentation velocities in geology, and blood flow measurements in medical Doppler ultrasound. Glacier movement and tectonic plate motion are sometimes expressed in cm/s or cm/year.

History

Centimetres per second was the standard velocity unit in the CGS (centimetre-gram-second) system, widely used in physics until the mid-20th century. While SI uses m/s, cm/s persists in certain scientific fields, particularly fluid mechanics and geophysics.

Common mistakes

Confusing cm/s with m/s by forgetting the factor-of-100 difference. Also, assuming cm/s is too small for practical use—blood flow in major arteries is typically 10–40 cm/s, which is a very practical range.

What is metre per minute?

Metre per minute is a unit of speed expressing the distance in metres covered in one minute. It is used in industrial machinery, conveyor belt speeds, and slow-motion technical processes.

Real-world uses

Metres per minute is used in manufacturing for conveyor belt speeds, CNC machine feed rates, and surface cutting speeds. Treadmill speeds at low settings may be displayed in m/min. It is also used for walking speed in pedestrian traffic studies.

History

Metres per minute became a practical unit in industrial settings where processes operate too slowly for m/s to give convenient numbers but too fast for m/h. It is particularly entrenched in machining and metalworking standards.

Common mistakes

Confusing metres per minute with metres per second—they differ by a factor of 60. An average walking speed of about 80 m/min equates to roughly 1.33 m/s or 4.8 km/h.

When is this conversion used?

Converting centimetre per second to metre per minute is useful in the speed domain when comparing values across different measurement standards or applying formulas that require a specific unit.

Worked examples

1 centimetre per second = 0.6 metre per minute

1 metre per minute = 0.01666667 metre per second

How to convert centimetre per second to metre per minute

To convert centimetre per second to metre per minute, multiply the value by 0.6.

To convert metre per minute back to centimetre per second, multiply by 1.66666667.

Measurement standards

The SI unit of speed is metres per second (m/s), a derived unit requiring no independent definition. The knot is defined as exactly one nautical mile (1,852 metres) per hour and is sanctioned for maritime and aeronautical navigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Did you know?

The fastest human-made object is the Parker Solar Probe, which reached 635,266 km/h (about 176 km/s) in 2024 during a close pass of the Sun — fast enough to travel from New York to Tokyo in under a minute.

Quick reference: centimetre per second to metre per minute

centimetre per second	metre per minute
0.1	0.06
0.5	0.3
1	0.6
2	1.2
5	3
10	6
25	15
50	30
100	60
250	150
500	300
1,000	600

Common values

	centimetre per second	metre per minute
Walking speed	140 centimetre per second	84 metre per minute
City speed limit	1,390 centimetre per second	834 metre per minute
Highway driving	3,130 centimetre per second	1,878 metre per minute
Commercial aircraft	25,000 centimetre per second	15,000 metre per minute
Speed of sound (sea level)	34,029 centimetre per second	20,417.4 metre per minute

Available Speed units

More centimetre per second conversions

Assumption: Mach uses an approximate sea-level reference (about 340.29 m/s).