What is metre per second?

Metre per second is the SI unit of speed. It is used in physics, engineering, and scientific contexts to express velocity, and serves as the reference unit for all speed calculations in this converter.

Real-world uses

Metres per second is the SI unit of speed used in physics, engineering, and scientific research. Wind speed in meteorological data, projectile velocities, and fluid flow rates are expressed in m/s. The speed of sound at sea level is approximately 343 m/s.

History

As an SI derived unit, metres per second became the standard scientific speed unit with the adoption of the SI system in 1960. It naturally combines the base units of length (metre) and time (second).

Common mistakes

Forgetting to convert from km/h—divide by 3.6, not by 3.0 or 60. Also, confusing velocity (vector with direction) with speed (scalar magnitude), both expressed in m/s but with different physical meanings.

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.

When is this conversion used?

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

Worked examples

1 metre per second = 100 centimetre per second

1 centimetre per second = 0.01 metre per second

How to convert metre per second to centimetre per second

To convert metre per second to centimetre per second, multiply the value by 100.

To convert centimetre per second back to metre per second, multiply by 0.01.

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: metre per second to centimetre per second

metre per second	centimetre per second
0.1	10
0.5	50
1	100
2	200
5	500
10	1,000
25	2,500
50	5,000
100	10,000
250	25,000
500	50,000
1,000	100,000

Common values

	metre per second	centimetre per second
Walking speed	1.4 metre per second	140 centimetre per second
City speed limit	13.9 metre per second	1,390 centimetre per second
Highway driving	31.3 metre per second	3,130 centimetre per second
Commercial aircraft	250 metre per second	25,000 centimetre per second
Speed of sound (sea level)	340.29 metre per second	34,029 centimetre per second

Available Speed units

More metre per second conversions

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