What Is Meter per Minute (m/min)?
Meter per minute is a unit that tells you how far something moves in one minute. It counts the number of meters traveled during one minute of time. For example, if a person walks 80 meters in one minute, their speed is 80 meters per minute. This unit is very useful when you want to measure slow or medium speeds over short distances, such as walking, machines in a factory, or moving belts.
Definition
Meter per minute is a unit of speed. Speed shows how much distance something covers in a certain time.
Formal meaning
- 1 meter per minute means an object moves 1 meter in exactly 1 minute.
- In math form: speed in m/min equals distance in meters divided by time in minutes.
So, if a small robot moves 50 meters in 5 minutes, its speed is:
50 meters divided by 5 minutes equals 10 meters per minute.
This unit is based on two simple things you already know
- Meter is a unit of length in the metric system.
- Minute is a unit of time. 1 minute equals 60 seconds.
History / Origin
The unit meter per minute comes from joining two older and very common units
- Meter was chosen as the main length unit in the metric system in the late 1700s in France. Today it is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units, also called SI.
- Minute has been used for a very long time as a part of the hour. 1 hour equals 60 minutes. People used minutes long before the metric system to measure time on clocks.
When people started to measure how fast things move, they needed a way to combine distance and time. They joined meter and minute to make a simple speed unit for everyday and technical use, especially where movement happens over minutes, not tiny moments of time. Today, scientists usually prefer meter per second, but many fields still like meter per minute because it feels more natural for slower motions.
Symbol & Abbreviation
The standard way to write meter per minute is
- m/min
Other ways you might see it are
- m min⁻¹ in more scientific writing. The small minus one means per minute.
- Written in words as meter per minute or metres per minute in British spelling.
All of these mean the same thing. In simple everyday use, m/min is the most common and easiest to read.
Current Use Around the World
Meter per minute is used in many areas where speeds are not extremely fast.
Common uses
- Walking and light exercise to show how fast a person walks or runs slowly on a treadmill.
- Factories and machines to set the speed of conveyor belts, cutting machines, printing presses, and many other types of equipment.
- Building and construction to describe the speed of lifts, hoists, or moving platforms.
- Textile and paper industries to show the speed of cloth, paper, or film moving through rollers.
- Robotics and automation to control how fast robots and moving parts travel in a straight line.
In everyday life, many people still speak in kilometers per hour or miles per hour when talking about cars and travel. Meter per minute is more common in technical settings and engineering tasks where exact control over short distances is important.
Example Conversions
Here are some useful conversions that help you change meter per minute into other speed units.
Between meter per minute and meter per second
- 1 minute equals 60 seconds.
- So 1 m/min equals 1 meter divided by 60 seconds.
- 1 m/min equals 0.01667 m/s, rounded to five decimal places.
Formula
- m/s equals m/min divided by 60.
- m/min equals m/s multiplied by 60.
Examples
- 60 m/min equals 60 divided by 60 equals 1 m/s.
- 120 m/min equals 120 divided by 60 equals 2 m/s.
- 30 m/min equals 30 divided by 60 equals 0.5 m/s.
Between meter per minute and kilometer per hour
- 1 kilometer equals 1000 meters.
- 1 hour equals 60 minutes.
- So 1 m/min equals 60 m per hour.
- 60 m per hour equals 0.06 km per hour.
- 1 m/min equals 0.06 km/h.
Formula
- km/h equals m/min multiplied by 0.06.
- m/min equals km/h divided by 0.06.
Examples
- 100 m/min equals 100 multiplied by 0.06 equals 6 km/h.
- 50 m/min equals 50 multiplied by 0.06 equals 3 km/h.
- 200 m/min equals 200 multiplied by 0.06 equals 12 km/h.
Between meter per minute and foot per minute
- 1 meter is about 3.28084 feet.
- So 1 m/min equals about 3.28084 ft/min.
Formula
- ft/min equals m/min multiplied by 3.28084.
- m/min equals ft/min divided by 3.28084.
Examples
- 10 m/min is about 32.81 ft/min.
- 30 m/min is about 98.43 ft/min.
- 100 m/min is about 328.08 ft/min.
Related Units
Here are some units that are closely related to meter per minute.
- Meter per second (m/s) the main SI unit for speed. Often used in science and physics.
- Kilometer per hour (km/h) very common for road speeds and travel.
- Mile per hour (mph) common in the United States and some other countries for car and wind speeds.
- Foot per minute (ft/min) used in some machines and building work, especially in countries that use feet.
- Centimeter per second (cm/s) used for slow speeds and small distances, such as in lab tests.
- Knot (kn) used to measure speed of ships and aircraft over water. 1 knot equals 1 nautical mile per hour.
All of these units describe speed. You can change from one to another using conversion factors. Meter per minute fits in the middle and is helpful when meter and minute match how people actually use machines or measure movement.
FAQs
What is meter per minute in simple words
Meter per minute tells you how many meters something moves in one minute. If a belt moves 40 meters in one minute, its speed is 40 m/min.
How do I convert meter per minute to meter per second
To change m/min to m/s, divide by 60, because there are 60 seconds in a minute.
- Example 1 30 m/min divided by 60 equals 0.5 m/s.
- Example 2 90 m/min divided by 60 equals 1.5 m/s.
How do I convert meter per minute to kilometer per hour
To change m/min to km/h, multiply by 0.06.
- Example 1 50 m/min multiplied by 0.06 equals 3 km/h.
- Example 2 150 m/min multiplied by 0.06 equals 9 km/h.
Is meter per minute an SI unit
Meter is an SI base unit and second is the SI unit of time. The official SI speed unit is meter per second. Meter per minute is not the main SI speed unit, but it is still acceptable and widely used for practical work.
Where is meter per minute used the most
Meter per minute is popular in factories, engineering, building work, and fitness machines that measure walking or slow running. It is useful when people care about speeds over minutes instead of each single second.
What is a normal walking speed in meter per minute
A normal walking speed for many adults is about 4 to 5 km/h. This is about 67 to 83 m/min.
- 4 km/h divided by 0.06 equals about 67 m/min.
- 5 km/h divided by 0.06 equals about 83 m/min.
Why use meter per minute instead of meter per second
Meter per second is better for science and very exact work. But meter per minute often feels easier to understand for slower motions, such as walking, elevators, or machine belts, because the numbers are larger and closer to how people naturally think.
How can I change any speed to meter per minute
First change the distance unit to meters, then change the time unit to minutes.
- If you start with km/h, divide by 0.06 to get m/min.
- If you start with m/s, multiply by 60 to get m/min.
- If you start with ft/min, divide by 3.28084 to get m/min.
By using these steps, you can turn almost any speed into meter per minute.