What Is Yard per Hour (yd/h)?
Yard per hour is a unit used to measure very slow speed. It shows how many yards an object travels in one full hour. Because an hour is long and a yard is not very big, this unit is mostly used for examples, teaching, or to show how slow something is.
Definition
One yard per hour means an object moves a distance of exactly one yard in exactly one hour.
So if something is moving at 3 yd/h, it will travel 3 yards in one hour, 6 yards in two hours, and so on.
In simple form:
- Speed in yd/h equals distance in yards divided by time in hours.
- 1 yd/h is a very small speed compared with walking, driving, or running speeds.
History / Origin
The unit yard per hour is built from two older units, the yard for distance and the hour for time.
- Yard comes from old English measuring systems. It became fixed as 0.9144 meter in the 20th century so it matches the metric system.
- Hour has been used since ancient times. People divided day and night into 24 equal parts, which gave the 24 hour day we still use.
Putting yard and hour together to form yd/h is a simple way to describe speed. It is not a traditional everyday speed unit like miles per hour, but it follows the same idea and can be used whenever a very slow movement needs to be shown with yards and hours.
Symbol & Abbreviation
The unit uses a short form to save space in writing.
- Name: yard per hour
- Symbol: yd/h
- Parts: “yd” stands for yard, “/” means “per”, and “h” stands for hour.
The slash between yd and h shows that we are dividing distance by time, so it is distance per time.
Current Use Around the World
Yard per hour is not a common everyday unit. Today other speed units are used much more often, such as:
- meters per second in science and in countries using the metric system
- kilometers per hour for road and vehicle speeds in most countries
- miles per hour in the United States and a few other places
Yard per hour may still appear in these cases:
- Education: to teach speed as distance divided by time using easy numbers.
- Very slow motion: for example, slow moving machines or objects where yards and hours make sense.
- Conversion practice: in math and physics questions that ask students to change units.
Modern tools like online converters and calculators can quickly change yd/h into more useful units.
Example Conversions
To work with yard per hour, it helps to know how to change it into other speed units.
Basic facts
- 1 yard equals 0.9144 meter.
- 1 hour equals 3600 seconds.
Yard per hour to meters per second
Step by step:
- 1 yd/h equals 0.9144 meter per 3600 seconds.
- 1 yd/h is about 0.000254 meter per second.
Examples:
- 10 yd/h is about 0.00254 m/s.
- 100 yd/h is about 0.0254 m/s.
Yard per hour to kilometers per hour
- 1 yard equals 0.0009144 kilometer.
- So 1 yd/h equals 0.0009144 km/h.
Examples:
- 1000 yd/h is about 0.9144 km/h.
- 2000 yd/h is about 1.8288 km/h.
Yard per hour to feet per second
- 1 yard equals 3 feet.
- 1 hour equals 3600 seconds.
- So 1 yd/h equals 3 feet per 3600 seconds, which is 0.000833 foot per second.
Examples:
- 100 yd/h is about 0.0833 ft/s.
- 600 yd/h is about 0.5 ft/s.
Meters per second to yard per hour
- 1 meter is about 1.0936 yards.
- 1 second equals 1/3600 hour.
- So 1 m/s is about 3937 yd/h.
Examples:
- 0.01 m/s is about 39.37 yd/h.
- 0.1 m/s is about 393.7 yd/h.
Related Units
Yard per hour belongs to a family of speed units. Here are some related ones.
- Yard per minute (yd/min): yards traveled in one minute. Faster unit than yd/h because the time is shorter.
- Yard per second (yd/s): yards traveled in one second. Much faster unit than yd/h.
- Foot per second (ft/s): often used in physics and engineering in the United States.
- Mile per hour (mph): common road speed unit in the United States and some other countries.
- Meter per second (m/s): the main speed unit in the International System of Units, used in science.
- Kilometer per hour (km/h): common road speed unit in most of the world.
All of these units measure speed, only the size of the distance and the time changes.
FAQs
Q: What does yard per hour mean in simple words
A: Yard per hour tells you how many yards something moves in one hour. It is a way to measure how slow or fast something is using yards and hours.
Q: Is yard per hour a standard SI unit
A: No. It is not an SI unit. The SI unit for speed is meter per second. Yard per hour belongs to the older imperial system and is rarely used in science.
Q: Where might I see speeds in yd/h
A: You may see yd/h in school math or physics problems, in some technical notes that use yards, or when someone wants to show that something is moving very slowly.
Q: Why is yard per hour not used for cars or planes
A: Because it is too small and not practical. Car and plane speeds would need huge numbers in yd/h. It is easier to use km/h, mph, or m/s for normal and high speeds.
Q: How can I convert yd/h to m/s quickly
A: Multiply the speed in yd/h by about 0.000254 to get m/s. For example, 500 yd/h times 0.000254 is about 0.127 m/s.
Q: Is 1 yd/h faster than 1 m/s
A: No. 1 m/s is much faster. 1 m/s is about 3937 yd/h. So 1 yd/h is only a tiny part of 1 m/s.