Cosmic Velocity - Third to Centimeter per Second

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 second measures distance in centimeters traveled in one second. Common for small-scale movements and flows.

1 cm/s = 0.01 m/s = 0.036 km/h = 0.6 m/min.

To m/s: ÷ 100. To km/h: × 0.036. To mm/s: × 10.

Stream/river surface flow (10–200 cm/s), blood flow velocity in arteries (10–100 cm/s), small machine movements, and insect flight speeds.

Housefly speed: ~200 cm/s. Blood in aorta: ~40 cm/s. Small stream flow: 30–100 cm/s. Ant running: 1–3 cm/s.

Confusing cm/s with m/s — off by a factor of 100. Mixing up with mm/s.

100 cm/s = 1 m/s. Good for water flow, blood flow, and small animal speeds. Divide by 100 to get m/s.