Convert Feet per Second to Knots
Convert Feet per Second to Knots instantly. 1 Foot per Second (ft/s) equals 0.5925 Knots (kn).
Feet per Second to Knots conversion table
| Feet per Second (ft/s) | Knots (kn) |
|---|---|
| 1 ft/s | 0.5925 kn |
| 2 ft/s | 1.185 kn |
| 3 ft/s | 1.7775 kn |
| 5 ft/s | 2.9624 kn |
| 10 ft/s | 5.9248 kn |
| 20 ft/s | 11.8497 kn |
| 50 ft/s | 29.6242 kn |
| 100 ft/s | 59.2484 kn |
| 500 ft/s | 296.2419 kn |
| 1,000 ft/s | 592.4838 kn |
1 Foot per Second = 0.5925 Knots · multiply Feet per Second by 0.5925
About converting Feet per Second to Knots
Feet per Second (ft/s) and Knots (kn) are both units of speed, so converting between them is a single multiplication: multiply your Feet per Second figure by 0.5925. Ten Feet per Second comes to 5.9248 Knots, and a hundred works out at 59.2484 Knots.
Rule of thumb: going from Feet per Second to Knots divides, so the figure always shrinks — it takes about 1.6878 Feet per Second to make a single Knot. If your answer came out bigger, you have the conversion the wrong way round.
What is a Foot per Second?
Feet per second is a working unit rather than a public one. It appears wherever American engineering needs a speed that pairs with dimensions already given in feet — conveyor and belt speeds, water flowing in a channel, air velocity in a duct — and above all in ballistics, where muzzle velocity has always been quoted in ft/s. It is also the unit US physics problems fall back on when they are posed in imperial, so it feels oddly familiar to anyone who learned mechanics from an American textbook. On a road sign it appears essentially never.
What is a Knot?
The knot is one nautical mile per hour, and it is the speed unit of ships and aircraft worldwide no matter what the countries underneath use on their roads. The name is entirely literal: sailors measured speed with a chip log — a weighted board on a rope with knots tied at regular intervals, thrown over the stern and paid out for a fixed time while someone counted the knots running through their hands. It survives because it pairs with the nautical mile, which is one minute of latitude, so speed and chart distance share a ruler. One warning: "knots per hour" is simply wrong. The per-hour is already inside the word.
To put both in perspective: a rifle bullet leaves the muzzle at roughly 3,000 feet per second, while a cruising airliner does around 470 knots.
The converter above updates as you type, and the table lists common values for quick reference. Need the opposite direction? Use the Knots to Feet per Second converter, or browse all Speed converters.
Frequently asked questions
How many Knots are in one Foot per Second?
There are 0.5925 Knots in one Foot per Second.
How do I convert Feet per Second to Knots?
Multiply the number of Feet per Second by 0.5925. For example, 10 Feet per Second = 5.9248 Knots.
What is 100 Feet per Second in Knots?
100 Feet per Second is equal to 59.2484 Knots.
How do I convert Knots to Feet per Second?
Multiply the Knots value by 1.6878 (or divide by 0.5925).
Is this Feet per Second to Knots conversion exact?
The definition is exact — Feet per Second and Knots are both fixed against the same base by international agreement — but the decimal shown here is rounded for readability, because the true ratio does not terminate. For engineering or scientific work, carry more decimal places than this page displays.
What is a Foot per Second?
Feet per second is a working unit rather than a public one. It appears wherever American engineering needs a speed that pairs with dimensions already given in feet — conveyor and belt speeds, water flowing in a channel, air velocity in a duct — and above all in ballistics, where muzzle velocity has always been quoted in ft/s. It is also the unit US physics problems fall back on when they are posed in imperial, so it feels oddly familiar to anyone who learned mechanics from an American textbook. On a road sign it appears essentially never.
What is a Knot?
The knot is one nautical mile per hour, and it is the speed unit of ships and aircraft worldwide no matter what the countries underneath use on their roads. The name is entirely literal: sailors measured speed with a chip log — a weighted board on a rope with knots tied at regular intervals, thrown over the stern and paid out for a fixed time while someone counted the knots running through their hands. It survives because it pairs with the nautical mile, which is one minute of latitude, so speed and chart distance share a ruler. One warning: "knots per hour" is simply wrong. The per-hour is already inside the word.