Orders of magnitude (speed) - Definition and Overview

Orders of magnitude for speed:

• average rate of the Moon receding from the Earth 1.3 nm/s
• growth of hair 3 nm/s.
• walking 1-1.5 m/s
• car 30 m/s (typical speed)
• train 40 m/s, high-speed train 90 m/s
• speed of sound 330 m/s
• muzzle velocity of M16 rifle 975 m/s
• thermal neutron 2 km/s
• propagation of the explosion in a detonating cord 7-8 km/s
• low Earth orbit 7.5 km/s
• Earth in orbit around the Sun 30 km/s
• fast neutron 10 000 km/s
• speed of light 300 000 km/s