Acceleration Converter
Convert between m/s², standard gravity (g), ft/s², and km/h per second.
How acceleration conversion works
Acceleration measures how quickly speed changes over time, so its units combine a distance unit with time squared. 'g' (standard gravity) is a convenient reference point — Earth's surface gravity — commonly used to describe forces felt in vehicles, roller coasters, and spacecraft.
Reference points
- 1 g ≈ 9.807 m/s² — the acceleration of a freely falling object near Earth's surface
- A car braking hard might reach 0.8–1 g; a fighter jet pilot might briefly experience 5–9 g in a turn
- 1 km/h per second ≈ 0.278 m/s² — a common way to express a car's 0-to-100-km/h acceleration rate
Frequently asked questions
Why is 'g' used instead of m/s² for things like roller coasters?
Because it's a relatable reference: 1 g is what you feel constantly from Earth's gravity, so describing a ride as '3 g' immediately conveys that it feels three times as strong as normal gravity, which is more intuitive than a raw m/s² number.
Is 'g' the same as 'g' for grams?
No — this is a common point of confusion. Lowercase 'g' for standard gravity (an acceleration) and 'g' for grams (a mass) are unrelated units that happen to share the same letter.