Loading

Speed of Sound (in air) Calculator

Calculate the speed of sound in air or an object's Mach number!

The Formulas

How to calculate the speed of sound in air or Mach number!

The base formula for calculating the speed of sound in air is:


331.228

× ((

K

÷

273.15

) ^

0.5

) = Speed of Sound in m/s

 331.228

is the speed of sound (in meters per second at 0 degrees Celsius) and

K

represents the temperature of the air in Kelvin. So the formula is simply the speed of sound at 0°C multiplied by the temperature of the air in Kelvin divided by 273.15 to the power of 0.5.


This formula can easily be modified to calculate the speed of sound from and to other measurements/units. For example, this formula calculates the speed of sound from the temperature of the air in Celsius (°C) instead of Kelvin (K).


331.228

× (((

C

+

273.15

) ÷

273.15

) ^

0.5

) = Speed of Sound in m/s

This formula calculates the speed of sound in miles per hour (mph) from the temperature of the air in Fahrenheit (°F).


740.935

× (((((

F

-

32

) × (

5

÷

9

) +

273.15

) ÷

273.15

) ^

0.5

) = Speed of Sound in mph

To calculate an object's Mach number, you simply divide the object's speed by the speed of sound (using the same units for both speeds). So if the speed of the object is 10 m/s and the speed of sound is 343 m/s, 10 ÷ 343 gives us a result of Mach 0.03.



This calculator allows you to quickly and easily get the speed of sound in air at a specific temperature or get the Mach number of an object! You can input the temperature in Celsius, Fahrenheit, or Kelvin and easily select which speed unit to calculate the speed of sound in! It's all 100% free!