Speed Facts

Sound travels about 4 times faster in water than in air.

When glass breaks, the cracks move at speeds of up to 3,000 miles per hour.

US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.

A domestic cat can sprint at about 30 miles per hour.

Domestic pigs average a top speed of about 11 miles per hour.

A typical raindrop falls at approximately 17 miles per hour, though speeds vary significantly with size.

The Earth travels through space at 490,000 miles per hour as it orbits around the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

It takes about eight minutes for light to travel from the Sun to Earth.

Honey bees fly at 15 miles per hour.

Any space vehicle must move at a rate of 7 miles per second in order to escape the earth's gravitational pull.

The average cough comes out of your mouth at around 50-60 miles per hour.

If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse.

When glass breaks, the cracks move faster than 3,000 miles per hour. To photograph the event, a camera must shoot at a millionth of a second!

Tsunamis ( tidal waves ) travel as fast as jet planes.

The average sperm cell swims at 8 inches per hour.

When glass breaks, the cracks move faster than 3,000 miles per hour.

Forest fires move faster uphill than downhill.

In 1982, a high school student from Los Angeles, California unscrambled the Rubik's Cube in 22.95 seconds.

At room temperature, the average air molecule travels at the speed of a rifle bullet.

Pain travels through your body at speeds ranging from 2 to 120 feet per second, depending on the type of nerve fiber carrying the signal.

A sneeze can travel as fast as 100 miles per hour.

According to a 2010 study by bio-mechanical expert Dr. Peter Weyand, humans could theoretically run up to 40 mph if our limbs could handle the ground forces—nearly 50% faster than Usain Bolt's record top speed of 27.8 mph.

Dragonflies can reach top speeds ranging from 22 to 35 miles per hour, depending on the species.

A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second.