Inch per second

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title: "Inch per second" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["units-of-velocity"] description: "Unit of speed or velocity" topic_path: "general/units-of-velocity" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inch_per_second" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Unit of speed or velocity ::

The inch per second is a unit of speed or velocity. It expresses the distance in inches (in) traveled or displaced, divided by time in seconds (s). The corresponding coherent SI unit is the metre per second.

Abbreviations include in/s, ips, and less frequently, in⋅s−1.

Conversions

1 inch per second is: : = 0.0254 metres per second (exactly) : = or 0.083 feet per second (exactly) : = or 0.05681 miles per hour (exactly) : = 0.09144 kilometres per hour (exactly)

Conversion to inches per second: : 1 metre per second ≈ 39.370079 inches per second (approximately) : 1 foot per second = 12 inches per second (exactly) : 1 mile per hour = 17.6 inches per second (exactly) : 1 kilometre per hour ≈ 10.936133 inches per second (approximately)

Uses

In magnetic tape sound recording, magnetic tape speed is often quoted in inches per second (abbreviated "ips").

In computer mice sensitivity is also often referred to in inches per second (abbreviated as "ips").

In rotorcraft health monitoring, rotor and shaft induced vibration levels are often quoted in inches per second.

References

References

1. "Velocity Units: Inch Per Second". efunda.

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