How fast is 20,600 meters per minute?
It's about ten times as fast as a Curveball (baseball)
The speed of a Curveball (baseball) is about 2,000 meters per minute.
(a.k.a. hook, a.k.a. hammer, a.k.a. yakker) (major league average)
The average speed of major league curveball pitch is 2,000 meters per minute. In the 1940's, debate over whether there really was a curve in the curveball pitch was settled with the conclusion that the ball does curve; however, an optical illusion caused by the spin of the ball and the batter's perception of motion exaggerates the extent of the curve.
It's about ten-and-a-half times as fast as a Hurricane
The speed of a Hurricane is about 1,990 meters per minute.
(formally: Topical cyclone; a.k.a. typhoon)
A hurricane is defined by the US National Hurricane Center as a Northern Hemisphere tropical storm having one-minute average wind-speeds of at least 1,980 meters per minute. Typhoons Tip (October, 1979) and Keith (October, 1997) and Hurricanes Camille (August, 1969) and Allen (August, 1980) jointly hold the record for highest tropical storm wind speeds at 5,170 meters per minute.
It's about eleven times as fast as a Knuckleball (baseball)
The speed of a Knuckleball (baseball) is about 1,800 meters per minute.
(a.k.a. knuckler, a.k.a. floater, a.k.a. dancer, a.k.a. butterfly ball) (major league average)
The average speed of major league knuckleball pitch is 1,800 meters per minute. Eddie Cicotte, who was later implicated in the 1919 Black Sox scandal, is credited with developing the pitch ca. 1906.
It's about eleven times as fast as a Cheetah
The speed of a Cheetah is about 1,841 meters per minute.
(Acinonyx jubatus)
The cheetah can reach speeds of up to 1,842 meters per minute in short bursts. From a crouching position, the cheetah can attain these speeds in just 2.25 seconds.
It's about seventeen times as fast as a Greyhound
The speed of a Greyhound is about 1,210 meters per minute.
(a.k.a. English greyhound) (approximate maximum speed)
Greyhounds reach average race speeds of 1,210 meters per minute. Despite their racing prowess, greyhounds are not considered energetic dogs — the typical greyhound race requires the dogs to run for less than 35 seconds.
It's about twenty times as fast as a Gazelle
The speed of a Gazelle is about 1,000 meters per minute.
(for Thomson's Gazelle, a.k.a. Eudorcas thomsoni, a.k.a. "Tommie", a.k.a. "Tommy")
A Thomson's gazelle can reach speeds of up to 1,000 meters per minute. The gazelle's speed doesn't match that of its chief predator, the cheetah, but a gazelle's endurance usually ensures an escape in distances greater than 500 m (0.3 mi).
It's about twenty times as fast as a Hare
The speed of a Hare is about 1,000 meters per minute.
(for European Brown Hare, a.k.a. Brown Hare, a.k.a. Lepus europaeus, a.k.a. Brown Hare)
The European Hare can run at speeds of up to 1,000 meters per minute. While speed is a factor in their escapes, hares evade their chief predators — wolves, foxes, and golden eagles — by fleeing in a zigzag pattern.
It's about twenty-and-a-half times as fast as Secretariat
The speed of Secretariat is about 1,010 meters per minute.
(at Belmont Stakes, 1973)
Setting a record finish, Secretariat ran the Belmont Stakes — a 12 furlong race length — in 2:24, for an average speed of 1,010 meters per minute in 1973. His margin of victory in the race, also a record-setter, was 31 lengths.
It's about one-twenty-fifth as fast as The Space Shuttle
The speed of The Space Shuttle is about 464,620 meters per minute.
(Orbiter vehicle velocity)
The space shuttle orbits at a speed of 464,620 meters per minute. During liftoff, the space shuttle accelerates to orbital speed in 8.5 minutes, consuming over 1.59 million kg (3.51 million lbs) of propellant in the process.
It's about thirty times as fast as Michael Johnson
The speed of Michael Johnson is about 621 meters per minute.
(a.k.a. Michael Duane Johnson) (sprinter; 1967-) (at the Atlanta Olympics, 1996)
Setting a record that stood for 12 years, Michael Johnson ran a 200 m in 0:19.32 for an average speed of 621.20 meters per minute at the 1996 Olympics. Johnson was nicknamed "the Man with the Golden shoes" in recognition of the custom footwear worn during these races — a pair of Nikes with a left size of 10.5 and a right size of 11.
It's about thirty times as fast as Usain Bolt
The speed of Usain Bolt is about 618 meters per minute.
(at the Beijing Olympics, 2008) (a.k.a. Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D.) (sprinter; 1986-)
Setting a world record, Usain Bolt ran a 100 m in 0:09.69 for an average speed of 620 meters per minute at the 2008 Olympics. Furthermore, Bolt's margin of record breaking — 0.03 s — is the largest margin of victory in the history of digital measurements.
It's about forty times as fast as Flo-Jo
The speed of Flo-Jo is about 562.30 meters per minute.
(at the Seoul Olympics, 1998) (a.k.a. Florence Griffith-Joyner, a.k.a. Florence Delorez Griffith) (swimmer; 1959-1998)
Setting a world record in 1988, Flo-Jo ran a 200 m in 0:21.34 for an average speed of 562.30 meters per minute. Known as a 200 m runner, Joyner also set a record time in a 100 m race at in 1987.
It's about 45 times as fast as Noah Ngeny
The speed of Noah Ngeny is about 454.70 meters per minute.
(in Rieti, Italy; 1999) (sprinter; 1978-)
Setting a world record at the Rieti Grand Prix in 1999, Noah Ngeny ran 1,000 m in 2:11.96 for an average speed of 454.70 meters per minute. According to some reports, Ngeny did not begin running competitively until just three years before setting the record.
It's about 50 times as fast as a Bull
The speed of a Bull is about 400 meters per minute.
(for animals involved in the Running of the Bulls, a.k.a. Encierro, San Fermin, Pamplona, Spain) (herd average speed)
The herd of the annual Encierro in Pamplona, Spain runs at an average speed of 400 meters per minute. The Encierro is run annually from July 7th through July 14th and involves 42 bulls, 77 oxen, and an estimated 17,000 runners over the course of the event.
It's about one-one-hundredth as fast as a Meteor
The speed of a Meteor is about 2,500,000 meters per minute.
(formally Meteoroid or meteorite, depending on the context; a.k.a. "shooting star", a.k.a. "falling star")
Small meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere at speeds between 670,000 meters per minute and 4,300,000 meters per minute, depending on their size. The fireball effect, known as ablation, ceases once the atmosphere has slowed the meteoroid to a velocity of about 170,000 meters per minute.