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Range of Speeds

FactorValue (m/s)Value (km/h)Value (mph)Item
10−182.2×10−187.8×10−184.9×10−18Expansion rate between 2 points in free space 1 m apart under Hubble’s law.
10−119.8×10−113.5×10−102.2×10−10Rate of global sea level rise in 1993–2003 (3.1 mm/year).[1]
10−103×10−10 to 3×10−91×10−9 to 1×10−87×10−10 to 7×10−9Typical relative speed of continental drift.
10−91.3×10−94.68×10−92.9×10−9Average rate of the Moon receding from the Earth (approx. 38 mm/year).
4.8×10−91.7×10−81.1×10−8Human hair growth (average rate—note that there is a great range of variation).
10−61.52×10−65.4×10−63.4×10−6Speed of a cellular vesicle propelled by a motor protein.[2]
10−51.4×10−55.0×10−53.1×10−5Growth rate of bamboo, the fastest-growing woody plant, over 24 hours.[3]
10−44.0×10−41.4×10−38.9×10−4Speed of Jakobshavn Isbræ, one of the fastest glaciers, in 2003.[4]
6×10−42.2×10−31.3×10−3Typical speed of Thiovulum majus, the fastest-swimming bacterium.[5]
10−30.002750.009900.00615World record speed of the fastest snail in the Congham, UK.[6]
10−20.04760.1710.106Compact cassette tape speed.[7]
0.0800.290.18The top speed of a sloth.
10−10.277810.62141 km/hour.
0.447041.60934411 mph.
0.51441.8521.1511 knot (nautical mile per hour)
1001.24.322.68Typical scanning speed of an audio compact disc; the speed of signals (action potentials) traveling along axons in the human cortex.
1–1.53.6–5.42.2–3.4Average 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.
2.398.535.35World record time 50m freestyle swim (20.94 seconds)
5.7220.4212.80World record time marathon (2h03m59s)
6–720–2512–15Comfortable bicycling speed.
10110.43837.57823.35Average speed of Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt while setting the 100m world record in Berlin on 16 August 2009.
12.4244.7227.78Top speed reached by Bolt during the same race.
8–1430–5018–31Typical residential speed limit; top speed of a running cat or dog.
145031Typical speed of road-race cyclist.
176037Typical speed of thoroughbred racehorse or racing greyhound.
5–2518–9011–56Speed of propagation for unmyelinated sensory neurons.
3011070Typical speed of car (freeway); cheetah—fastest of all terrestrial animals; sailfish—fastest fish; speed of go-fast boat.
3613081Land speed record for a human powered vehicle.
4014090Typical peak speed of a local service train (or intercity on lower standard tracks).
67240149The top speed of the world’s fastest roller coaster, Formula Rossa.
90320200Typical 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.[8]
91328204Fastest recorded ball (a golf ball) in sports.[9]
102103370230Speed of super torpedo VA-111 Shkval.
103.5372.6231.5Maximum 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.
105.5379.8236Maximum speed of a Ferrari F50 GT1.
119.742431.072267.86Maximum speed of the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (currently the fastest production car in the world).
120432270Speed of propagation for mammalian motor neurons.
130468290Wind speed of a powerful tornado.
150.6539337Top speed of an internal-combustion-powered NHRA Top Fuel Dragster.
157575351Top speed of experimental test TGV train in 2007.
161580360Top speed of JR-Maglev in 2003.
250900560Typical cruising speed of a modern jet airliner, e.g. an Airbus A380.
3141,130702Top speed of any World War II-era aircraft, the Me 163B V18 set on July 6, 1944.
3201,200720The speed of a typical .22 LR bullet.
340.31,225761Speed of sound in standard atmosphere (15 °C and 1 atm).
344.661,240.77770.98Max speed reached by the jet-propelled car ThrustSSC in 1997—Land speed record.[10]
3731,342.8833.9Highest speed recorded during a free fall set by Felix Baumgartner.
4281,540.8957Max speed of Bell X-1.
4641,6701,040Speed of Earth’s rotation at the equator.
6032,170.81,350Speed of the Concorde airliner.
9753,5102,180Muzzle velocity of M16 rifle.
9813,5322,194SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest aircraft driven by a mechanical jet engine.
1031,4005,0403,100Speed of the Space Shuttle when the solid rocket boosters separate.
1,5005,4003,400Speed of sound in water or in soft tissue.[11]
1,7896,4434,002Speed of BrahMos II hypersonic cruise missile
2,0007,2004,500Estimated speed of a thermal neutron.
2,0197,268.44,516Speed of the North American X-15 rocket plane.
2,3758,5505,345Escape velocity from Moon.
2,7009,6006,000Speed of wind on exoplanet HD 189733 b.[12]
2,88510,3856,453Top speed of the fastest rocket sled.[13]
3,37312,1447,546Speed of the X-43 rocket/scramjet plane.
4,50016,00010,000A typical value for the specific impulse of current rockets.
7,70027,70017,200Speed of International Space Station and typical speed of a satellite and the Space Shuttle in low Earth orbit.
7,77728,00017,400Speed of propagation of the explosion in a detonating cord.
10411,10739,985.224,846Speed of Apollo 10 – high speed record for manned vehicle.
11,20040,32025,100Escape velocity from Earth.
16,10057,90036,000Fastest projectile velocity (1994).[14]
16,21058,35636,261Escape speed from Earth by NASA New Horizons spacecraft—Fastest escape velocity.
17,00061,00038,000The approximate speed of the Voyager 1 probe relative to the sun, when it exited the Solar System.[15]
29,800107,28066,700Speed of the Earth in orbit around the Sun.
47,800172,100106,900Atmospheric entry speed of the Galileo atmospheric probe—Fastest controlled atmospheric entry for a man-made object.
70,220252,800157,100Speed of the Helios 2 solar probe—Fastest man-made object.
105140,000540,000313,170Approaching velocity of Messier 98 to our galaxy.
200,000700,000450,000Orbital speed of the solar system in the Milky Way galaxy.
440,0001,600,000980,000Typical speed of the stepped ladder of lightning (cf. return stroke below).[16]
450,0001,600,0001,000,000Typical speed of a particle of the solar wind, relative to the Sun.
552,0001,990,0001,230,000Speed of the Milky Way, relative to the cosmic microwave background.
617,7002,224,0001,382,000Escape velocity from the surface of the Sun.
1061,000,0003,600,0002,200,000Typical speed of a Moreton wave across the surface of the Sun.
1,610,0005,800,0003,600,000Speed of hypervelocity star PSR B2224+65, which currently seems to be leaving the Milky Way.
5,000,00018,000,00011,000,000Estimated minimum speed of star S2 at its closest approach to Sagittarius A*.[17]
10714,000,00050,000,00031,000,000Typical speed of a fast neutron.
30,000,000100,000,00070,000,000Typical speed of an electron in a cathode ray tube.
108100,000,000360,000,000220,000,000The escape velocity of a neutron star.
100,000,000360,000,000220,000,000Typical speed of the return stroke of lightning (cf. stepped leader above).[18]
124,000,000447,000,000277,000,000Speed of light in a diamond (Refractive index 2.417).
200,000,000720,000,000440,000,000Speed of a signal in an optical fiber.
299,792,4561,079,252,840670,615,282Speed of the 7 TeV (0.99999 9991 c) protons in the Large Hadron Collider at full power.[19]
299,792,458 − 1.5×10−151,079,252,848.8 − 5.4×10−15670,616,629Speed of the Oh-My-God particle, an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray travelling at (1 − 4.9×10−24) c.[20]
299,792,4581,079,252,848.8670,616,629Speed of light or other electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum. Also, Planck speed.