# What speed does dust travel inside a vacuum cleaner hose?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-speed-does-dust-travel-inside-a-vacuum-cleaner-hose/629901>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 30, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-speed-does-dust-travel-inside-a-vacuum-cleaner-hose/629901 "2012-07-30T23:39:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![evilmango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f1d935/32.png) [@evilmango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilmango)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-speed-does-dust-travel-inside-a-vacuum-cleaner-hose/629901/1 "2012-07-30T23:39:33Z")

</div>

I appreciate there are _many_ factors that could affect this; vacuum cleaner power, the shape of whatever dust/dirt is being sucked up, the design of the hose walls, to name just a few. I’m looking for a ballpark “top speed”. Any ideas?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DelightfulExperiment](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/fbc32d/32.png) [@DelightfulExperiment](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DelightfulExperiment)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-speed-does-dust-travel-inside-a-vacuum-cleaner-hose/629901/2 "2012-07-31T00:15:59Z")

</div>

Because dust is very small, it should travel at very nearly the same speed as the air.

Your machine should be rated in air watts, and also in pressure. You can roughly derive speed from those two and the cross-sectional area of your hose.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-speed-does-dust-travel-inside-a-vacuum-cleaner-hose/629901/3 "2012-07-31T04:01:30Z")

</div>

I wonder if the speed of dust in a vacuum is independent of the motion of the janitor.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-speed-does-dust-travel-inside-a-vacuum-cleaner-hose/629901/4 "2012-07-31T08:35:24Z")

</div>

A rough ballpark figure is probably somewhere around 25 to 50 feet per second.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-speed-does-dust-travel-inside-a-vacuum-cleaner-hose/629901/5 "2012-07-31T15:54:29Z")

</div>

This little fella could tell ya. Video safe for work (unless you work for PETA). Watch the volume though.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JLQ70JJpa0M/hqdefault.jpg "Prairie Dog Vacuum") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLQ70JJpa0M)