Convert kilometers per hour to feet per minute in seconds.
1 km÷h x 54.6807 = 54.6807 ft/min
Discover other related calculators
Ever wondered how fast a 120 km/h wind gust translates in elevator maintenance manuals using feet per minute? Or why your German car’s speedometer shows km/h while your American HVAC manual references ft/min? Converting between these units isn’t just academic, it’s a daily puzzle for engineers, pilots, and DIY enthusiasts working across measurement systems. Let’s unravel this speed conversion together.
Unit definitions
What is a kilometer per hour (km/h)?
Description: Measures distance traveled in kilometers over one hour.
Symbol: km/h
Common uses: Road speed limits, weather reports, athletic performance tracking.
Definition: 1 km/h = 1000 meters traveled in 3600 seconds (≈0.27778 m/s).
What is a foot per minute (ft/min)?
Description: Indicates vertical or horizontal movement in feet per 60 seconds.
Symbol: ft/min
Common uses: Elevator speeds, industrial conveyor belts, aircraft climb rates.
Definition: 1 ft/min = 0.3048 meters per minute (≈0.00508 m/s).
Conversion formula
Multiply km/h by 54.6807 to get ft/min:
ft/min = km/h × 54.6807
Derived from:
1 km = 3280.84 feet
1 hour = 60 minutes
(3280.84 feet / 60 minutes) ≈ 54.6807 ft/min per 1 km/h
Example calculations
- Car speed: 60 km/h highway cruising
60 × 54.6807 = 3280.842 ft/min
(That’s 3,280 feet every minute – same number as feet in a kilometer. Coincidence? Nope, it’s how the conversion factor works!) - Slow walker: 5 km/h stroll
5 × 54.6807 = 273.4035 ft/min
Roughly 273 feet covered each minute – perfect for calculating treadmill belt speeds.
Conversion tables
Kilometers per hour to feet per minute
| km/h | ft/min |
|---|---|
| 1 | 54.6807 |
| 5 | 273.4035 |
| 10 | 546.807 |
| 20 | 1093.614 |
| 50 | 2734.035 |
| 100 | 5468.07 |
Feet per minute to kilometers per hour
| ft/min | km/h |
|---|---|
| 50 | 0.9144 |
| 100 | 1.8288 |
| 500 | 9.144 |
| 1000 | 18.288 |
| 3281 | 60.0 |
| 5468 | 100.0 |
From french revolutions to fan rotations: A speed unit story
The kilometer per hour gained traction during the French Revolution’s metric push in the 1790s, standardizing measures post-monarchy. Meanwhile, feet per minute clung to industrial Britain, becoming vital during the 1850s factory boom. Pittsburgh elevator engineers in 1870 preferred ft/min for lift safety specs, while German autobahn planners adopted km/h in the 1930s. Today’s global projects demand fluid conversion between these units. Whether optimizing Tokyo’s bullet train airflow (ft/min) or converting Swiss watch component conveyor speeds (km/h).
Interesting facts
- The fastest elevator (Shanghai Tower) ascends at 1,080 ft/min, equivalent to 19.75 km/h vertically.
- Hurricane winds hitting 280 km/h convert to 15,300 ft/min. Enough to lift light debris 255 feet every second.
- Your fingernails grow about 0.0000034 km/h, or 0.000185 ft/min, try timing that!
- The term “knots” (nautical miles per hour) predates both units, still used in aviation and maritime.
- 1 ft/min equals 0.0113636 mph – a snail’s pace, yet crucial for precision manufacturing.
FAQ
This conversion helps in fields like aviation (measuring climb rates) or industrial settings (fan speeds) where imperial units are standard.
It’s precise for practical purposes, but like all unit conversions, rounding may occur depending on required decimal places.
While possible, most countries use km/h or mph for road speeds. Ft/min is more niche, like measuring conveyor belt movements.
Anemometers for air flow or tachometers in machinery often display ft/min alongside other units.
Multiply km/h by 55 for a rough ft/min value. For accuracy, use 54.6807 as the exact factor.