Knots Vs. MPH

I am sure that we must have come across this word in movies, the most. The words 'knot' or 'nautical miles' have been much familiar in movies (well at least for me). People specifically with marine interests may know how speed is calculated. And the unit used is 'knot'. It can be considered as one of the bigger units to calculate speed. So how much is 1 knot equal to? And how many miles make 1 knot? Let's find it out.

Knots Definition

A knot as said earlier, is a unit of speed and one knot is equal to one nautical mile per hour, or 1.151 miles per hour (approx.). Therefore...

1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour
1 knot = 1.151 miles per hour

Nautical relates to ships, shipping, navigation on water body, etc. Hence, a nautical mile is used only in shipping context. The abbreviation for knot differs. The American and Canadian Maritime Authorities prefer the 'kn' symbol for knot. The symbol 'kn' is also accepted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. The other abbreviations for knots are 'kt' (singular), 'kts' (plural), are commonly used by the rest of the world.

The International Hydrographic Organization too, prefers the abbreviation 'kn' for knots, which includes all major seafaring nations. Knot is not only used for maritime but also is used in air navigation, meteorology, et al. The knot is not a part of SI unit (International System of Units), but it is an accepted unit of measurement and is used along with the SI unit system.

Mile Definition

Mile per hour (MPH), again is a unit of speed which calculates the number of miles covered per hour. This is a standard unit to calculate speed in most of the countries, including The United States and United Kingdom. For laws pertaining to speed, it is used the most in several countries. 'MPH' or 'mph' is the common abbreviation used for miles per hour. It is also used to calculate the speed of the ball in games like baseball, cricket and tennis.

1 mph = 0.44704 m/s (meter per second)
1 mph = 1.609344 km/h (kilometer per hour)
1 mph = 0.868976 knots approx.

Knots Vs. MPH

Miles per hour and knots both are number of units of distance that is covered for a certain amount of time.

1 international knot = 1 nautical mile per hour = 1.852 kilometers per hour = 0.514 meters per second.

Conversion from Knots to MPH

Knots	MPH
5 Knots	5.8 mph
10 Knots	11.5 mph
15 Knots	17.3 mph
20 Knots	23 mph
25 Knots	28.8 mph
30 Knots	34.6 mph
35 Knots	40.3 mph
40 Knots	46.1 mph
45 Knots	51.8 mph
50 Knots	57.6 mph
55 Knots	63.4 mph
60 Knots	69.1 mph
65 Knots	74.9 mph
70 Knots	80.6 mph
75 Knots	86.4 mph
80 Knots	92.2 mph
85 Knots	97.9 mph
90 Knots	103.7 mph
95 Knots	109.4 mph
100 Knots	115.2 mph
105 Knots	121 mph
110 Knots	126.7 mph
115 Knots	132.5 mph
120 Knots	138.2 mph
125 Knots	144 mph
130 Knots	149.8 mph
135 Knots	155.5 mph
140 Knots	161.3 mph
145 Knots	167 mph
150 Knots	172.8 mph

The length of the internationally agreed nautical mile is 1,852m. The U.S. adopted the international definition in 1954, having previously used the U.S. nautical mile. Speeds of tidal streams, wind speeds and river currents are measured in knots too.