rad/s\text{rad/s}

radian per second

Angular speedexact by definition

The radian per second is the SI coherent unit of angular speed, usually written ω\omega. It is the form every rotational dynamics equation expects, because v=ωrv = \omega r and ac=ω2ra_c = \omega^2 r hold only in radians. Its relation to the base units is exact by definition.

Watch out: Angular frequency in rad/s is 2π2\pi times the frequency in Hz, so a 60 Hz supply corresponds to 377 rad/s. Both are formally per-second, so a dimensional check will not catch the substitution error.

1 rad/s\text{rad/s} 1 rad/s\text{rad/s}

About the radian per second

The radian per second is the speed every rotational formula is written in, and a few anchors make its magnitudes readable: a clock's second hand turns at 2π/60≈0.1052\pi/60 \approx 0.105 rad/s, a 3,000 rpm motor at 314 rad/s, and a large wind turbine rotor at only 1 to 2 rad/s. That last number explains a common surprise, because v=ωrv = \omega r over a 50 m blade puts the tip of that slow-looking machine at 80 m/s or more. Power follows the same way: P=τωP = \tau\omega is how the rotational-mechanics solvers on this site turn a nameplate speed and a torque into watts.

One value in this unit is a constant of the planet. The Earth turns at Ω=7.292×10−5\Omega = 7.292 \times 10^{-5} rad/s, and the figure looks slightly wrong if you compute 2π2\pi over the 86,400 s day, because the true rotation period is the sidereal day of 86,164 s, the Earth's turn relative to the stars rather than the Sun. That Ω\Omega is the ingredient in the Coriolis parameter that weather models and long-range ballistics corrections are built on, and it is why cyclones spin opposite ways in the two hemispheres.

One radian per second in every angular speed unit

206,265degree per hour (°/h)
13,751revolution per day (rev/d)
3,437.75degree per minute (°/min)
1,000milliradian per second (mrad/s)
572.958revolution per hour (rev/h)
60radian per minute (rad/min)
57.2958degree per second (°/s)
9.5493revolution per minute (rpm)
1radian per second (rad/s)this unit
0.159155revolution per second (rev/s)
0.0095493thousand revolutions per minute (krpm)