How fast something is means how much distance it covers in a certain time.
Imagine you're running on the playground and your friend is riding their bike next to you. Your friend moves more distance in the same amount of time, so they're going faster, just like when you race against your brother, and he gets to the slide first!
What’s a second?
A second is a very short time, it's how long it takes for a clock to tick once. If you count one two three, that’s about three seconds.
Now imagine a car going really fast, like a race car! In one second, it can go as far as your whole playground. That means in 60 seconds (which is 1 minute), the car would have gone all around the neighborhood!
How do we measure speed?
Speed is usually measured in meters per second, or how many meters you cover every second. A fast runner might do 5 meters every second, that’s like jumping over a big puddle five times as fast as you can count!
Examples
- A car can go up to 120 miles per hour on the highway.
- Humans can run about 23 kilometers per hour.