Cosmic Velocity - Third to Meter per Hour

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.

Meter per hour measures the distance in meters traveled over the course of one hour. It's a very slow speed unit used for measuring gradual processes.

1 m/h = 1/3600 m/s = 0.000278 m/s. Very small speed unit for very slow processes.

To m/s: ÷ 3,600. To km/h: ÷ 1,000. To ft/h: × 3.281.

Glacier movement (typically 10–200 m/h in fast glaciers), hair growth (0.0001 m/h), slow industrial processes, and scientific experiments.

Average glacier: 10–100 m/h. Tectonic plate movement: ~0.005 m/h. Bamboo (fastest growing plant): up to 0.091 m/h.

Confusing m/h with m/s — m/h is 3,600 times slower. Using it for normal speeds instead of km/h or m/s.

Remember: 1,000 m/h = 1 km/h. Useful for very slow processes. Think glaciers, not cars.