Acceleration Converter
Convert between meters per second squared, g-force, and other acceleration units.
About the Acceleration Converter
The Acceleration Converter turns a rate of change of velocity written in one unit into the same rate written in another. It handles the three units engineers and physicists actually use: metres per second squared, g-force, and feet per second squared. Type a number, pick the two units, and the answer updates as you type. Everything runs in your browser.
How to convert m/s² to g
One g is exactly 9.80665 m/s². That figure is the standard acceleration of free fall fixed by the General Conference on Weights and Measures and listed in ISO 80000-3. It is a defined constant rather than a measurement, so the conversion is exact.
Worked example. A car pulling 4 m/s² is 4 ÷ 9.80665 = 0.4079 g. Going the other way, a 6 g turn in a fighter aircraft is 6 × 9.80665 = 58.84 m/s².
m/s² to g-force conversion table
| Metres/sec² (m/s²) | g-force (g) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.1019716 |
| 2 | 0.2039432 |
| 3 | 0.3059149 |
| 5 | 0.5098581 |
| 10 | 1.019716 |
| 20 | 2.039432 |
| 50 | 5.098581 |
| 100 | 10.19716 |
| 250 | 25.49291 |
| 500 | 50.98581 |
| 1,000 | 101.9716 |
Rows are computed from the tool's own 9.80665 factor, so the table and the converter above always agree.
The third unit: feet per second squared
One foot per second squared is exactly 0.3048 m/s², because the international foot is exactly 0.3048 m. That makes 1 g equal to 32.17405 ft/s², the figure imperial textbooks quote for gravity.
Real-world values
- Standard gravity: 9.80665 m/s², which is 1 g by definition.
- A family car accelerating from rest to 100 km/h in 10 s averages 2.78 m/s², or 0.28 g.
- Hard braking on dry asphalt reaches about 9 m/s², roughly 0.9 g.
- Sustained 9 g is the limit modern fighter pilots train for, which is 88.26 m/s².
- The Moon's surface gravity is 1.62 m/s², about 0.165 g.
- A smartphone dropped in free fall reads 0 g, because its accelerometer measures support force, not gravity.
What is acceleration?
Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes, so its units are always a length divided by a time squared. In SI that is the metre per second squared: a body accelerating at 1 m/s² gains one metre per second of speed every second. Because gravity is the acceleration everyone has a feel for, engineering often reports acceleration as a multiple of it instead, which is what g-force is.
Units this converter supports
Three: metres per second squared (m/s²), g-force (g) and feet per second squared (ft/s²). Metres per second squared is the base unit, and both other units are converted through it, so the figures above and the tool agree exactly.
Frequently asked questions
How many m/s² is 1 g?
One g is exactly 9.80665 m/s². That value is the standard acceleration of free fall fixed by the General Conference on Weights and Measures and listed in ISO 80000-3. It is a defined constant, not a measurement, which is why the converter can treat it as exact.
Why is gravity not exactly 1 g where I am?
Real gravity ranges from roughly 9.76 m/s² near the equator and at altitude to about 9.83 m/s² near the poles. The converter uses the agreed 9.80665 m/s² so that every result is reproducible. Treat a g-force figure as a standard unit of acceleration, not as a reading for your location.
How do I convert ft/s² to m/s²?
Multiply by 0.3048, the exact definition of the international foot. Dividing gives the reverse. One g is 32.17405 ft/s², because 9.80665 divided by 0.3048 is 32.17404855.
Which units does this converter support?
Three: metres per second squared (m/s²), g-force (g) and feet per second squared (ft/s²). Metres per second squared is the base unit, and every conversion is computed through it.
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