The tip of a 1/3-in-long

hour hand on a wristwatch

0.00000275

The growth rate of some

bamboo (3 ft./day).

0.0000237

The average ground speed

of the three-toed sloth

(Bradypus tridactylus)

The average current of

the Mississippi River.

A brisk walking pace

for a human

The average speed of

Roger Bannister during

his 4-min. mile

The average speed of the

past world record

holder in the 1-mi. run,

set by Steven M. J. Ovett

on July 1, 1980(time: 3:48.8)

The fastest passenger

elevator (in the

"Sunshine 60" building,

Ikebukuro, Tokyo)

Eric Heiden's speed in

the 500-meter speed-

skating event at 1980

Winter Olympics

(time: 38.03 sec.).

The "Beast" roller

coaster, King's Island,

near Cincinnati, OH

A cricket ball bowled by

Jeff Thompson of

Australia (vs. the West

Indies), December, 1975.

Speed of ball in world's

fastest recorded pitch,

by Nolan Ryan on

Aug. 20, 1974.

The fastest bird in level

flight, the white-

throated spine-tailed

swift (Hirundapus

caudacutus

The fastest-ever steam

train, no. 4468 "Mallard"

of the London & North

Eastern Railway

The approximate speed

attained in the head-

first free-fall position

of sky diving. It is

reassuring to know that

if you fall out of an

aircraft, you would

probably never fall

faster than this (unless

you were really high up).

185

The speed of a nerve

impulse along a nerve in

your body (approximately

400 ft./sec.).

The speed of sound at

sea level at 20 degrees C.

The speed of the fastest

aircraft, the Lockheed

SR-71A

The speed of a bullet

from a standard U.S. army

M16 rifle

(3,250 ft./sec.

The highest man-made

rotary speed of any

earthbound object (a

swirling, tapered 6-in.

carbon-fiber rod in a

vacuum

The speed reached by the

space shuttle Columbia on

its first flight approximately 9 min. after takeoff.

Escape velocity from the

earth

An Atlas SLV-3C launcher,

with a modified Centaur D

second stage, and a

Thiokol Te-364-4 third

stage, which left the

earth's atmosphere on

Mar. 2, 1972. (The first

space vehicle to attain

the speed necessary to

break out of the solar

system.)

The average orbital speed

of the earth around the

sun

The orbital speed of an

electron in a uranium

atom

The speed of light

(that's 186,181 mi./sec.)