m/s² to g-Force Converter
Convert m/s² to g-force by dividing by 9.80665. Includes both formulas, a conversion table, and real g-forces for cars, roller coasters, fighter jets and rocket launches.
m/s² to g-force
Formula
Divide the acceleration in metres per second squared by 9.80665 — the value of standard gravity.
So 1 m/s² = 0.1019716 g, and 1 g = 9.80665 m/s². The number 9.80665 is not measured, it is defined: the 3rd General Conference on Weights and Measures fixed standard gravity at exactly 9.80665 m/s² in 1901, and ISO 80000 still carries that value.
Worked example
A car that reaches 100 km/h from rest in 6 seconds averages about 4.63 m/s². In g:
Going the other way, a roller coaster rated at 3 g pulls:
Conversion table
| 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 |
Real-world g-forces
- Standing still — 1 g (9.80665 m/s²). Gravity is always acting, so a seated person already feels 1 g.
- Lift starting upward — about 1.1 g, roughly 1 m/s² on top of gravity.
- Commercial aircraft on take-off — about 0.2–0.4 g of forward acceleration.
- Hard braking in a car — 0.8–1.0 g on dry tarmac with good tyres.
- Roller coaster — 3–5 g at the bottom of a steep drop.
- Fighter pilot in a tight turn — up to 9 g, the limit a trained pilot can hold in a g-suit.
- Space Shuttle launch — capped at 3 g to protect the crew.
What is g-force?
Despite the name, g-force is not a force — it is an acceleration, expressed as a multiple of standard gravity. Saying "3 g" means "accelerating three times as hard as a free fall near the Earth's surface". It is popular in aviation, motorsport and ride engineering because it maps directly onto what a body can tolerate, which is far easier to reason about than a raw figure in m/s².
FAQ
How many m/s² is 1 g? Exactly 9.80665 m/s², by definition.
How many g is 1 m/s²? 0.1019716 g, which is 1 divided by 9.80665.
Is g-force a force? No. It is an acceleration given as a multiple of standard gravity. The force a body actually feels is its mass times that acceleration.
Why divide by 9.80665 rather than 9.81? 9.80665 is the defined value of standard gravity. 9.81 is a rounding of it, and local gravity varies between about 9.76 and 9.83 m/s² with latitude and altitude anyway.
Does 0 g mean no gravity? No — it means free fall. An astronaut in orbit is still pulled by gravity but feels nothing, because the spacecraft falls with them.