Convert Foot per Second to Meter per Second (ft/s → m/s)

Converting feet per second to meters per second is straightforward: multiply by the conversion factor. Follow these three steps to do it by hand or in your head.

1. 1
   Take your value in feet per second

   Start with the number of feet per second (ft/s) you want to convert.
2. 2
   Multiply by 0.3048

   The conversion factor from ft/s to m/s is 0.3048. Multiply your value by this number.
3. 3
   Read the result in meters per second

   The result is your value in meters per second (m/s).

Multiply the value in feet per second by 0.3048. For the reverse direction, multiply by 3.28084.

• ✓1 ft/s = 0.3048 m/s = 1.097 km/h = 0.682 mph.
• ✓Multiplying ft/s by 0.682 gives mph.
• ✓US engineering often uses ft/s; metric countries use m/s.

• ✗Confusing ft/s with fps (frames per second in video/gaming).
• ✗Mixing ft/s with mph without conversion.
• ✗Using ft/s instead of m/s in international scientific contexts.

What is the Foot per Second?

Feet per second is the standard ballistics unit for projectile speeds, American sports analytics, and engineering. Bullet velocities are universally given in fps: a .22 LR bullet flies at about 1,200 fps, a 9 mm pistol round at 1,150 fps, and a high-velocity rifle round at 3,000 fps. American football and baseball analytics increasingly use fps for measuring throwing speed, ball exit velocity, and player movement. Engineering disciplines that retain US customary units (HVAC, civil engineering) often specify air or water flow speeds in fps. The unit relates to mph (1.467 fps = 1 mph), m/s (1 fps ≈ 0.305 m/s), and the knot (1 fps ≈ 0.592 kn). Outside ballistics and US sports, m/s and km/h dominate — but in their domains, fps remains entrenched in American technical practice.

• US ballistics and firearms
• US civil-engineering flow rates
• Older US physics and engineering texts

What is the Meter per Second?

Meters per second is the SI unit of speed and the standard for physics, engineering, and Olympic athletics. Defined directly from the meter (length) and second (time), m/s is the natural unit for scientific work — Newton's laws of motion, kinematic equations, and fluid dynamics all use m/s. World-class athletes reach about 12 m/s in the 100-meter sprint (Usain Bolt's record averaged 10.44 m/s), commercial airliners cruise at 240–250 m/s, and a casual walk is about 1.4 m/s. The speed of sound in air at sea level is approximately 343 m/s, and the speed of light in vacuum is 299,792,458 m/s. Wind speeds in scientific contexts use m/s, though km/h dominates weather reporting. m/s relates to km/h (1 m/s = 3.6 km/h), mph (1 m/s ≈ 2.237 mph), the knot (1 m/s ≈ 1.944 kn), and ft/s (1 m/s ≈ 3.281 fps).

• Physics and engineering calculations
• Wind speed in science and aviation
• Sprint and throw analysis in sports science