What Is Meter per Hour (m/h)?
Meter per hour is a unit that measures speed. It tells how many meters something travels in one hour. It is based on the meter for distance and the hour for time. This unit is very small, so it is used for very slow movements.
Definition
One meter per hour means an object moves 1 meter of distance in 1 hour of time.
In math form:
- 1 m/h = distance of 1 meter in time of 1 hour
You can think of it like this. If a toy car moves at 1 m/h, after one full hour it has only moved one meter. That is slower than walking, slower than most things we see every day.
History / Origin
Meter per hour comes from two older units.
- Meter comes from the metric system. It was made to be a standard unit of length for science and daily life.
- Hour comes from the way people have divided a day for a long time. One day has 24 hours.
When you combine distance and time, you get a speed. So people could use meter and hour together as meters per hour. Today, scientists usually prefer meters per second, but meter per hour still exists as a correct unit of speed.
Symbol & Abbreviation
The standard way to write meter per hour is:
- m/h
Other ways you might see it written are:
- m hr⁻¹ which means meters times 1 over hours
- meter per hour written in full words
The most common short form is m/h.
Current Use Around the World
Meter per hour is not a common everyday speed unit. It is much smaller than the units most people use.
More common speed units are:
- kilometer per hour km/h used for cars and road speeds
- meter per second m/s used in science and engineering
- mile per hour mph used for road speeds in some countries
Meter per hour can still be useful when things move very slowly. For example:
- very slow machines in factories
- slow movement of soil or sand in nature over many hours
- very slow flow in pipes or tanks
Because the numbers in m/h get very large when you compare to normal speeds, people usually change meter per hour into m/s or km/h before using the values in work or study.
Example Conversions
These examples show how to change between meter per hour and other speed units.
Meter per hour to meter per second
One hour has 3600 seconds. So:
- 1 m/h = 1 meter per 3600 seconds
- 1 m/h = 1 ÷ 3600 m/s
- 1 m/h ≈ 0.0002778 m/s
Examples:
- 1000 m/h ≈ 0.2778 m/s
- 3600 m/h = 1 m/s
Meter per hour to kilometer per hour
One kilometer is 1000 meters. So:
- 1 m/h = 0.001 km/h
- 1000 m/h = 1 km/h
- 5000 m/h = 5 km/h walking speed
Meter per hour to miles per hour
One mile is about 1609.34 meters. So:
- 1 m/h ≈ 0.0006214 mph
- 1000 m/h ≈ 0.6214 mph
- 1609.34 m/h = 1 mph
Reverse conversions into m/h
- 1 m/s = 3600 m/h
- 1 km/h = 1000 m/h
- 1 mph ≈ 1609.34 m/h
Related Units
Units that are closely related to meter per hour include:
- Meter per second m/s the main SI speed unit used in science, 1 m/s = 3600 m/h
- Kilometer per hour km/h common road speed unit, 1 km/h = 1000 m/h
- Mile per hour mph used for car speeds in some countries, 1 mph ≈ 1609.34 m/h
- Centimeter per second cm/s small speed unit, 1 cm/s = 36 m/h
- Foot per second ft/s non metric speed unit, 1 ft/s ≈ 1097.28 m/h
FAQs
Is meter per hour an SI unit
Meter m and second s are the base SI units for length and time. Meter per hour uses meter but not second. So m/h is not the main SI unit of speed, but it is still based on SI units and can be used in correct scientific work.
Why is meter per second used more than meter per hour
Scientists and engineers prefer meter per second because it fits better with other SI units and with many formulas in physics. Using seconds instead of hours makes the math easier and the numbers smaller and clearer in most science problems.
When is meter per hour useful
Meter per hour is helpful when something moves very slowly over a long time. For example slow soil movement, slow machine belts, or slow liquid flow. In these cases, using m/s might give very tiny decimal numbers, but m/h gives whole numbers or simple values.
How can I quickly change m/h to km/h
To change meter per hour to kilometer per hour, divide by 1000. Example, 5000 m/h divided by 1000 equals 5 km/h.
How can I quickly change m/h to m/s
To change meter per hour to meter per second, divide by 3600. Example, 7200 m/h divided by 3600 equals 2 m/s.
Is meter per hour used for car speeds
No. Car speeds are almost never given in m/h. Most countries use km/h for car speeds. Some countries use mph. Meter per hour would give very big numbers for cars, so it is not practical for road use.