Miles per hour facts for kids

An automobile speedometer shows speed in miles per hour (outer numbers) and kilometres per hour (inner numbers).

A road sign in the United States showing a speed limit of 65 mph.

Miles per hour is a way to measure speed. It tells you how many miles something travels in one hour. Think of it as how fast a car or a person is moving.

This unit is often shortened to mph or MPH in everyday talk. You will see it on speed limit signs on roads in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sometimes, in more technical books, it is written as mi/h.

Scientists often use a different unit for speed called metres per second (m·s⁻¹). This is part of the International System of Units, which is a worldwide standard for measurements.

Converting Miles Per Hour

It's helpful to know how miles per hour compares to other ways of measuring speed. Here are some common conversions:

• 1 mph is about 0.44704 metres per second (m·s⁻¹). This is the standard unit used in science.
• 1 mph is about 1.609344 kilometres per hour (km·h⁻¹). Kilometres per hour is used in most other countries.
• 1 mph is about 1.4667 feet per second.
• 1 mph is about 0.868976 knots. Knots are mainly used for measuring the speed of boats and airplanes.

Related Pages

• Metre per second
• Speed
• Velocity

Images for kids

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  A 50 mph speed limit sign in the United Kingdom.

See also

In Spanish: Milla por hora para niños