# How many metres are there in a second? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 8, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633 "2012-07-08T21:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/1 "2012-07-08T21:25:09Z")
Perhaps this question makes no sense, as I have no real knowledge about relativity (it is something I intend to school myself on eventually) but I recall that time and space are the same thing. If so then presumably you can take a magnitude of a vector and consequently answer this question. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/2 "2012-07-08T21:27:55Z")
Space and time aren’t the same thing although they are deeply connected. So there are no meters in a second other than as a unit of speed - distance over time. ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/3 "2012-07-08T21:30:47Z")
Light travels 1/299792458 metres in a second. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/4 "2012-07-08T21:32:52Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Space and time aren’t the same thing although they are deeply connected. So there are no meters in a second other than as a unit of speed - distance over time. I admit this is a flat-out WAG but couldn’t the speed of light expressed in meters per second be one way to interpret the question? 1 second = 3 x 10 ^8 meters per second or (c) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/5 "2012-07-08T21:41:20Z")
> [@Even seven](#): > > Light travels 1/299792458 metres in a second. All EM waves travel at this speed in a vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/6 "2012-07-08T21:42:51Z")
> [@Even seven](#): > > Light travels 1/299792458 metres in a second. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > I admit this is a flat-out WAG but couldn’t the speed of light expressed in meters per second be one way to interpret the question? > > 1 second = 3 x 10 ^8 meters per second or (c) I’m way out of my element but I think this might be the right track. Speed seems to be a ratio of time to distance. At C, time stops. Light travels at C. Light goes 1/299792458 m/s. At C there’s 1/299792458 m/s. What about the end of that ratio though? x/1 as x units of time to 1 unit of space? ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/7 "2012-07-08T21:53:32Z")
> [@Even seven](#): > > Light travels 1/299792458 metres in a second. Wow, I completely botched that. It should be the reciprocal, i.e. 299792458 m. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/8 "2012-07-08T21:54:49Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > All EM waves travel at this speed in a vacuum. Not that speed. 🙂 It’s 299,792,458 m/s. Not 1/299,729,458, which would be the inverse. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/9 "2012-07-08T21:56:54Z")
> [@Even seven](#): > > Light travels 1/299792458 metres in a second. Light travels 299792458 meters in a second. Why the **1/** in front of it? eta: nevermind, ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/10 "2012-07-08T22:10:17Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Not that speed. 🙂 > > It’s 299,792,458 m/s. Not 1/299,729,458, which would be the inverse. Of course. 🙂 It should also be remembered that it travels at this speed based on the definitions of the second and meter, which are sort of arbitrary. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/11 "2012-07-08T22:26:50Z")
Technically, isn’t the answer “all of them”? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-metres-are-there-in-a-second/627633/12 "2012-07-08T22:27:55Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Of course. 🙂 > > It should also be remembered that it travels at this speed based on the definitions of the second and meter, which are sort of arbitrary. That’s why we in physics like to normalize units so that c = 1. 😉