Cosmic Velocity - Third to Centimeter per Minute

The third cosmic velocity is approximately 16,700 m/s (16.7 km/s), the minimum speed to escape the Sun's gravity from Earth's orbital position.

v₃ = √(v_sun² - v_Earth²) where v_sun is solar escape velocity from Earth's orbit. Approximately 16.7 km/s relative to Earth.

To km/h: × 3,600. To mph: × 37,282. 16.7 km/s = 60,120 km/h = 37,344 mph.

Voyager missions, future interstellar probes, and calculations for leaving the solar system.

Voyager 1: ~17 km/s relative to Sun (achieved via Jupiter gravity assist). Parker Solar Probe: 163 km/s peak (but toward Sun, not away).

Thinking Voyager was launched at 16.7 km/s — it used gravity assists. Also, confusing with speed needed to escape from Sun's surface (618 km/s).

~17 km/s to leave the solar system from Earth's orbit. Voyagers achieved this with gravity assists from planets.

Centimeter per minute measures distance in centimeters traveled over one minute. Used for small-scale, slow-moving processes.

1 cm/min = 0.01 m/min = 0.0001667 m/s = 0.0006 km/h.

To m/s: ÷ 6,000. To m/min: ÷ 100. To mm/min: × 10.

Snail movement (1–2 cm/min), slow laboratory stirrers, small conveyor systems, and plant growth measurements (fast-growing plants).

Garden snail: ~1 cm/min. Sloth movement: ~2 cm/min. Fast-growing bamboo shoots: up to 1.5 cm/min during peak growth.

Confusing with cm/s (60× faster) or cm/h (60× slower).

100 cm/min = 1 m/min. Good for measuring small creatures or slow mechanical processes.