Convert acceleration units — m/s², ft/s², g-force, Gal and more.
| Unit | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| m/s² | Meter/Square Second | 0.3048 |
| cm/s² | Centimeter/Square Second | 30.48 |
| in/s² | Inch/Square Second | 12 |
| g | Standard Gravity | 0.03108095 |
| Gal | Gal (cm/s²) | 30.48 |
| mG | Millig | 31.08095 |
Formula: in/s² = ft/s² × 12
Multiply any ft/s² value by 12 to get in/s².
Reverse: ft/s² = in/s² × 0.08333
Common acceleration values — factor: 1 ft/s² = 12 in/s²
| ft/s² (ft/s²) | in/s² (in/s²) | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 0.001 ft/s² | 0.012 in/s² | Micro |
| 0.1 ft/s² | 1.2 in/s² | Very small |
| 1 ft/s² | 12 in/s² | 1 ft/s² |
| 5 ft/s² | 60 in/s² | 5 ft/s² |
| 10 ft/s² | 120 in/s² | 10 ft/s² |
| 16.1 ft/s² | 193.2 in/s² | Half g |
| 20 ft/s² | 240 in/s² | 0.62 g |
| 32.17 ft/s² | 386 in/s² | 1 g Earth |
| 50 ft/s² | 600 in/s² | 1.55 g |
| 100 ft/s² | 1200 in/s² | 3.1 g |
| 161 ft/s² | 1932 in/s² | 5 g fighter |
| 289 ft/s² | 3468 in/s² | 9 g max pilot |
| 322 ft/s² | 3864 in/s² | ~10 g |
| 1000 ft/s² | 1.2e+04 in/s² | ~31 g |
| 1e+04 ft/s² | 1.2e+05 in/s² | ~311 g |
1 ft/s² = 12 in/s².
9.807 m/s² = 1 g = 32.17 ft/s² = 980.7 cm/s² — use as reference.
Multiply result by 0.08333 to recover the original ft/s² value.
Specifies aircraft and spacecraft acceleration loads in g and m/s² for structural design and pilot tolerance.
Measures vehicle acceleration performance (0–100 km/h) and braking deceleration in m/s² and g.
Uses Gal and mGal to measure variations in Earth's gravitational field for mineral exploration.
Programs joint acceleration limits in m/s² or in/s² for servo motor control and trajectory planning.
Calculates seismic acceleration loads (in g or m/s²) for earthquake-resistant building design.
Measures athlete acceleration performance using accelerometers reporting in g or m/s².
Feet per second squared (ft/s²) is the Imperial acceleration unit, equal to 0.3048 m/s². It is used in US aerospace, ballistics, and mechanical engineering where calculations are performed in the Imperial foot-pound-second (FPS) system.
Standard gravity in ft/s² = 32.174 ft/s². Aerospace trajectory calculations, aircraft performance charts, and US military ballistics tables traditionally use ft/s². A car accelerating at 1g experiences approximately 32.2 ft/s².
Interesting fact: The original definition of the foot varied across different countries and trades (Roman foot, English foot, survey foot) until the International Foot was standardized as exactly 0.3048 meters in 1959.
Inches per second squared (in/s²) is used in precision mechanical engineering and robotics where displacements are measured in inches. One in/s² = 0.0254 m/s².
In/s² appears in servo motor specifications, CNC machine acceleration profiles, and vibration analysis in US manufacturing. A servo motor might be rated for 500 in/s² maximum acceleration; a hard drive read head accelerates at thousands of in/s².
Interesting fact: Hard drive read/write heads accelerate at up to 550,000 in/s² (1,400 g) and can position themselves across the platter in milliseconds — making them among the fastest-moving precision components in consumer electronics.
Converting ft/s² to in/s² is common in aerospace, automotive, geophysics, and robotics. Physics and SI engineering use m/s²; US aerospace uses ft/s²; geophysics uses Gal (cm/s²); and g-force is universal. Key anchor: Earth surface gravity = 9.807 m/s² = 1 g = 32.17 ft/s² = 980.7 Gal.
Quick reference: 10 ft/s² = 120 in/s². Reverse: 1 in/s² = 0.08333 ft/s². Factor: 1 ft/s² = 12 in/s².
All conversions use IEEE 754 double-precision arithmetic, accurate to at least 8 significant figures.