Foot per Second to Foot per Hour

Foot per second measures the number of feet traveled in one second. Commonly used in engineering, ballistics, and some sports in the United States.

1 ft/s = 0.3048 m/s exactly (by definition of the international foot). 1 ft/s = 0.6818 mph.

To m/s: × 0.3048. To km/h: × 1.097. To mph: × 0.682. To knots: × 0.592.

Bullet velocities (handgun: 800–1,200 ft/s; rifle: 2,500–4,000 ft/s), waterfall flow rates, industrial conveyor speeds, and skydiving terminal velocity (120 ft/s).

Speed of sound: 1,125 ft/s at sea level. Free fall: 32 ft/s² acceleration. Skydiver terminal velocity: 120 ft/s. Baseball pitch: 132 ft/s (90 mph).

Confusing ft/s with mph — 1 ft/s is only 0.68 mph, not 1 mph. Also, mixing up ft/s and ft/min in HVAC calculations.

1 ft/s ≈ 0.3 m/s or ≈ 1.1 km/h. Quick check: 100 ft/s ≈ 70 mph. Multiply ft/s by 0.68 for approximate mph.

Foot per hour measures distance in feet traveled over one hour. Used for very slow movements in imperial units.

1 ft/h = 0.000085 m/s = 0.0003048 km/h = 0.3048 m/h.

To ft/s: ÷ 3,600. To mph: ÷ 5,280. To m/s: × 0.000085.

Glacier movement in US studies, very slow industrial processes, and some geological measurements.

Some glaciers move at 50–500 ft/h. Very slow conveyor systems might use this unit.

Confusing with ft/min (60× faster) or ft/s (3,600× faster).

5,280 ft/h = 1 mph. Extremely slow. Rarely used outside specialized contexts.