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Glite Dictionary
kilometers per second

kilometers per second

4 4.1
A measure of speed that shows how many kilometers something moves in one second
  • noun
  • /kɪˈlɒmɪtərz pər ˈsɛkənd/
translation icon : kilómetros por segundo
  • The disk is rotating at tremendous speeds—550 kilometers per second (1.2 million miles per hour).
  • speed of kilometers per second
  • 30 kilometers per second
  • 72 kilometers per second

So a number to remember is that things move at hundreds of kilometers per second inside of a of a Galaxy.

Examples

  • The cluster's gravitational pull is impeding the Milky Way galaxy's Hubble flow by several hundred kilometers per second.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The comet fragment approaches with the lightning-quick speed of 60 kilometers per second.

    Academic text (1994)

  • A nebula of hot gas expanded at thousands of kilometers per second.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • As described earlier, near Io's distance, neutral particles orbit Jupiter at 17 kilometers per second.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The star and disc somehow create powerful jets of ionized gas, moving at a few hundred kilometers per second.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The spiral features consist of high-temperature gas moving at speeds on the order of 100 kilometers per second.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Therefore, in a young star, the disc rotates at a few hundred kilometers per second close to the stellar surface.

    Academic text (1995)

  • For comparison, the velocity range within a typical rotating spiral galaxy is 400 to 600 kilometers per second.

    Academic text (1996)

  • If the satellite just skims the Earth's surface, its speed is 7.9 kilometers per second.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The spacecraft traveled through space at a speed of 15 kilometers per second.

Synonyms

km/s
vskilometers per second
3.7

A speed equal to one kilometre per second

has identical meaning but written in full words rather than as a symbol

How Fast

kilometers per second
4 4.1

Surface Forms

kilometers per second singular
kilometres per second singular

Morphology

kilometer + per + second

The phrase is fully compositional: 'kilometer' (a distance unit) combined with 'per' (indicating rate) and 'second' (a time unit) directly yields a rate of distance over time. This standard unit-per-time construction is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will understand the meaning.

Etymology

Kilometers per second comes from the two parts: kilometers means how far and second means time. It shows how many kilometers something moves in one second, so it means 'a speed' and tells how fast something is moving.