Speed

Speed is the distance of a moving object in a given amount of time. Speed is a measure of how fast something is moving. The average speed of an object in a certain time is the distance the object travelled divided by the time. Speed is also the distance covered by an object per unit time.

Finding speed

To find speed $s$,

$s=$$d \over t$

where $d$ is the distance and $t$ is the time that has gone by.

Units of measurement for speed

There are many units of measurement for speed. For example, an object's speed can be measured in

• miles per hour (mph),
• kilometers per hour (km/h)
• meters per second (m/s), which is the SI-unit for speed.

Changing speed

When an object changes speed, it gets faster or slower. If the speed of the object increases, it is called acceleration. If the object gets slower, and the speed decreases, it is called deceleration, or negative acceleration.

Related pages

• Velocity
• Momentum
• Quantum mechanics
• Metric system