Yards per second to Meters per second Converter | yd/s to m/s

What this converter does

This converter takes a speed in yards per second and gives you metres per second. Enter the yd/s value and read off the m/s. It is the move you make when a speed counted in yards has to become the SI unit, ready for a calculation or to sit beside scientific data.

The factor, and why it is exact

One yard per second is 0.9144 metres per second, so:

m/s = yd/s × 0.9144

That figure is exact, not rounded, because a yard is defined as exactly 0.9144 metres. The m/s value comes out a little smaller than the yd/s, by about 9 percent, since a yard is slightly shorter than a metre.

A yard and a metre are nearly the same

The useful feature of this pairing is how close the two units sit. A yard is just under a metre, so a speed in yards per second is only a little higher than the same speed in metres per second, always within about 9 percent. You can lean on that for a quick read: take the yd/s figure, trim it by roughly a tenth, and you are at the m/s value. It also means a yards-per-second number gives you a decent first sense of the metric speed before you convert at all.

A worked example

Say a running back is timed at 9 yards per second and you want that in m/s to compare against data recorded in SI units.

• 9 × 0.9144 = 8.23 m/s

So 9 yd/s is about 8.23 m/s. That is the figure you would use in any calculation or comparison written in metres and seconds, and it sits just below the 9 you started with, exactly as the closeness of the two units would lead you to expect.

Common yd/s speeds in m/s

Each m/s figure sits just under its yd/s value, a steady sign of how near the two units run.

When you would convert this way

Yards per second is an uncommon unit, met mainly in sports and biomechanics where distances are measured in yards. The reason to turn it into m/s is almost always to do science with it: to feed the speed into a formula written in SI units, or to line a yard-based figure up against data recorded in metres and seconds. If you are staying within the yard-marked world, yd/s is fine as it is; this conversion is for the moment it has to meet the metric one.

Questions people ask

How do I convert yd/s to m/s?

Multiply the speed in yd/s by 0.9144. The factor is exact. For a quick estimate, trim the yd/s figure by about a tenth.

Is the conversion exact?

Yes. A yard is defined as exactly 0.9144 metres, so one yard per second is exactly 0.9144 m/s.

Why is the m/s figure only a little smaller?

A yard is just under a metre, so a yard-per-second speed is only about 9 percent above the same speed in metres per second, leaving the two numbers close.

References

1. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Special Publication 811, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (unit conversion factors). https://www.nist.gov/pml/special-publication-811
2. International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), The International System of Units (SI) Brochure (metre per second as the SI unit of speed). https://www.bipm.org/en/publications/si-brochure