How Do You Convert Plane Speed from km/h to m/s?

[Blaz3r]

Homework Statement

If a plane can travel 2.00 x 10^3 km in 3.00 hours, what is its velocity in m/s?

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

V =
d = 2.00 x 10^3 km
t = 3.00h

V = 2.00 x 10^3 km / 3.00h

V = 2000km / 3.00h

V = 666.67km/h

666.67 kilometers = 666 670 meters - 666.67 hours = 2 400 012 seconds
I'm not sure what to do at this step changing it to m/s

V = ?m/s

 

[Dale]

When you are converting between different units remember that you can always multiply by factors of 1. E.g.

$$\frac{1 min}{60 s}=1$$

If you pick your factors of 1 correctly you can get the units you don't want to cancel out and just leave the units you do want. E.g.

$$120 s = 120 s \; 1 = 120 s \frac{1 min}{60 s} = 2 min$$

Notice how the s on top in the original units cancels out the s on bottom from the factor of 1, leaving only min from the factor of 1.

 

[Blaz3r]

When you are converting between different units remember that you can always multiply by factors of 1. E.g.

$$\frac{1 min}{60 s}=1$$

If you pick your factors of 1 correctly you can get the units you don't want to cancel out and just leave the units you do want. E.g.

$$120 s = 120 s \; 1 = 120 s \frac{1 min}{60 s} = 2 min$$

Notice how the s on top in the original units cancels out the s on bottom from the factor of 1, leaving only min from the factor of 1.

I still don't understand.Are you converting into minutes? I converted into minutes which is 160minutes, do I take my m/160minutes to get my final answer of m/s?

 

[Dale]

You have km/h and you want m/s so you need a factor which gives you m on top and cancels out the km, and you need another factor which gives you s on top and cancels out the h. Can you figure out what those factors are?

 

[rwisz]

To convert from kilometers per hour to meters per second, we need to use the conversion factor of 1 km = 1000 m and 1 hour = 3600 seconds. This gives us:

V = 666.67 km/h x (1000 m/1 km) x (1 h/3600 s)

V = 666.67 x (1000/1) x (1/3600) m/s

V = 666.67 x (1000/3600) m/s

V = 666.67 x 0.2778 m/s

V = 185.1856 m/s

Therefore, the velocity of the plane is 185.1856 m/s.