# Knot (unit)

The knot (/nɒt/) is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, exactly 1.852 km/h (approximately 1.15078 mph).[1] The ISO standard symbol for the knot is kn.[2] The same symbol is preferred by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE); kt is also common, especially in aviation where it is the form recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).[3] The knot is a non-SI unit.[4] Worldwide, the knot is used in meteorology, and in maritime and air navigation—for example, a vessel travelling at 1 knot along a meridian travels approximately one minute of geographic latitude in one hour.

Etymologically, the term derives from counting the number of knots in the line that unspooled from the reel of a chip log in a specific time.

Knot
An airspeed indicator, which shows speed in knots
General information
Unit system
• meteorology
• aviation
• maritime
Unit ofspeed
Symbolkn or kt
Conversions
1 kn in ...... is equal to ...
km/h   1.852
mph   1.15078
m/s   0.514444
ft/s   1.68781

## Definitions

1 international knot =
nautical mile per hour (by definition),
1.852 kilometres per hour (exactly),[4]
0.51444 metres per second (approximately),
1.15078 miles per hour (approximately),
20.25372 inches per second (approximately)
1.68781 feet per second (approximately).

1852 m is the length of the internationally agreed nautical mile. The US adopted the international definition in 1954, having previously used the US nautical mile (1853.248 m).[5] The UK adopted the international nautical mile definition in 1970, having previously used the UK Admiralty nautical mile (6080 ft or 1853.184 m).

Conversions between common units of speed
m/s km/h mph knot ft/s
1 m/s = 1 3.6 2.236936 1.943844 3.280840
1 km/h = 0.277778 1 0.621371 0.539957 0.911344
1 mph = 0.44704 1.609344 1 0.868976 1.466667
1 knot = 0.514444 1.852 1.150779 1 1.687810
1 ft/s = 0.3048 1.09728 0.681818 0.592484 1

(Values in bold face are exact.)

## Usage

The speeds of vessels relative to the fluids in which they travel (boat speeds and air speeds) are measured in knots. For consistency, the speeds of navigational fluids (tidal streams, river currents and wind speeds) are also measured in knots. Thus, speed over the ground (SOG) (ground speed (GS) in aircraft) and rate of progress towards a distant point ("velocity made good", VMG) are also given in knots.

## Origin

Until the mid-19th century, vessel speed at sea was measured using a chip log. This consisted of a wooden panel, attached by line to a reel, and weighted on one edge to float perpendicularly to the water surface and thus present substantial resistance to the water moving around it. The chip log was cast over the stern of the moving vessel and the line allowed to pay out.[6] Knots placed at a distance of 47 feetinches (14.4018 m) from each other, passed through a sailor's fingers, while another sailor used a 30-second sand-glass (28-second sand-glass is the currently accepted timing) to time the operation.[7] The knot count would be reported and used in the sailing master's dead reckoning and navigation. This method gives a value for the knot of 20.25 in/s, or 1.85166 km/h. The difference from the modern definition is less than 0.02%.

Derivation of knots spacing:

${\displaystyle 1{\textrm {kn}}=1852{\textrm {m/h}}=0.5144{\textrm {m/s}}}$, so in ${\displaystyle 28}$ seconds that is ${\displaystyle 14.40}$ meters per knot.

## Modern use

Graphic scale from a Mercator projection world map, showing the change with latitude

Although the unit knot does not fit within the SI system, its retention for nautical and aviation use is important because the length of a nautical mile, upon which the knot is based, is closely related to the longitude/latitude geographic coordinate system. As a result, nautical miles and knots are convenient units to use when navigating an aircraft or ship.

Standard nautical charts are on the Mercator projection and the horizontal (East-West) scale varies with latitude. On a chart of the North Atlantic, the scale varies by a factor of two from Florida to Greenland. A single graphic scale, of the sort on many maps, would therefore be useless on such a chart. Since the length of a nautical mile, for practical purposes, is equivalent to about a minute of latitude, a distance in nautical miles on a chart can easily be measured by using dividers and the latitude scales on the sides of the chart. Recent British Admiralty charts have a latitude scale down the middle to make this even easier.[8]

Speed is sometimes incorrectly expressed as "knots per hour",[9] which would mean "nautical miles per hour per hour" and thus would refer to acceleration.

### Aeronautical terms

Prior to 1969, airworthiness standards for civil aircraft in the United States Federal Aviation Regulations specified that distances were to be in statute miles, and speeds in miles per hour. In 1969, these standards were progressively amended to specify that distances were to be in nautical miles, and speeds in knots.[10]

The following abbreviations are used to distinguish between various measurements of airspeed:[11]

The indicated airspeed is close to the true airspeed only at sea level in standard conditions and at low speeds. At 11000 m (36000 ft), an indicated airspeed of 300 kn may correspond to a true airspeed of 500 kn in standard conditions.

## References

1. ^ Bartlett, Tim (July 2008) [2003]. RYA Navigation Handbook. Southampton: Royal Yachting Association.
2. ^ "ISO 80000-3:2006". International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
3. ^ International Standards and Recommended Practices, Annex 5 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, “Units of measurement to be Used in Air and Ground Operations”, ICAO, 4th Edition, July 1979.
4. ^ a b "Non-SI units accepted for use with the SI, and units based on fundamental constants". SI brochure (8th ed.). International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The knot is defined as one nautical mile per hour. There is no internationally agreed symbol, but the symbol kn is commonly used.
5. ^ Louis E. Barbow and Lewie V. Judson (1976). "Appendix 4 The international nautical mile" (PDF). Weights and Measures Standards of the United States, A brief history. NIST Physics Laboratory. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
6. ^ Jacob Abbott (1858). Rollo on the Atlantic. DeWolfe, Fiske, & Co., Publishers. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
7. ^ Kemp, Peter, ed. (1976). The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. Oxford University Press. p. 454. ISBN 0-19-282084-2.
8. ^ e.g. BA Chart 73, Puerto de Huelva and Approaches, 2002
9. ^ Wilson, Alastair (22 July 2009). "'Knots an hour'". The Kipling Society. Retrieved 1 December 2012. Since the 1890s or thereabouts, it has been drummed into the young seaman that a knot is a unit of speed, namely, one nautical mile per hour; and that consequently only the uneducated speak of "knots per hour" or "knots an hour". It was therefore inevitable that Kipling’s frequent use of this expression should grieve a number of seafaring readers, as the pages of the Kipling Journal testify.
10. ^ For example, Part 23 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, amendment 23–7, 14 September 1969
11. ^ "Abbreviations and symbols". edocket.access.gpo.gov.
KN

KN or kn may refer to:

Language:

Places:

Science, technology, and mathematics:

Other uses:

KNTS

KNTS may refer to:

KNTS (AM), a radio station (1680 AM) licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States

KNTS-LP, a low-power television station (channel 17) licensed to Natchitoches, Louisiana, United States

KNTS, or Knot (unit), speed in naval nodes equals 1.852 km/h in International System

KTS

KTS/Kts may refer to:

Keirsey Temperament Sorter

Key telephone system

Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome

Knight of the Order of the Tower and Sword of Portugal

Knights Templar School, a secondary school in Baldock, Hertfordshire, England

Knot (unit), a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour

Brevig Mission Airport (IATA: KTS)

Knotted cord

A knotted cord was a primitive surveyor's tool for measuring distances. It is a length of cord with knots at regular intervals. They were eventually replaced by surveyor's chains, which being made of metal were less prone to stretching and thus were more accurate and consistent.

Knotted cords were used by many ancient cultures. The Greek schoenus is referred to as a rope used to measure land. Ropes generally became cables and chains with Pythagoras making the Greek agros a chain of 10 stadia equal to a nautical mile c 540 BC. The Romans used a waxed cord for measuring distances.

A knotted cord 12 lengths long (the units do not matter) closed into a loop can be used to lay out a right angle by forming the loop of cord into a 3–4–5 triangle. This could be used for laying out the corner of a field or a building foundation, for instance.

Tanker surfing

Tanker surfing uses water-displacement Displacement (ship) caused by large cargo and tanker ships passing through a ship channel, which in turn causes waves to form and brake on shoals and sandbars along the ship channel. The waves that are generated by the ships are used by surfers to ride for miles if the conditions are perfect. this type of surfing has been around since the 1960 and only a select few surfers even tried or knew of tanker surfing. One of the pioneers of modern tanker surfing is Captain James Fulbright. Captain Fulbright has been studding tanker surfing for the past 13 years and has come up with some of the most accurate formulas for tanker surfing. Some of the most important parts of tanker surfing is understanding the seabed and the way the waves react to it. The tonnage of the ships needs to be around or more than 100,000 ton, speed of at least 10 Knot (unit) and the draft (hull) all cumulate into a perfect setup for surfable waves to form. The problem with tanker surfing is not knowing if a ship is going to produce a wave that is suitable for surfing. This will lead to a waiting game for all the wright factors to play out.

Wind speed

Wind speed, or wind flow velocity, is a fundamental atmospheric quantity caused by air moving from high to low pressure, usually due to changes in temperature. Note that wind direction is usually almost parallel to isobars (and not perpendicular, as one might expect), due to Earth's rotation.

Wind speed affects weather forecasting, aviation and maritime operations, construction projects, growth and metabolism rate of many plant species, and countless other implications.Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer, but can also be classified using the older Beaufort scale, which is based on personal observation of specifically defined wind effects.

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