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Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, r/min, or r·min−1) is a unit
Units of measurement

The definition, agreement and practical use of units of measurement have played a crucial role in human endeavour from early ages up to this day....
 of frequency
Frequency

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency....
: the number of full rotations
Turn (geometry)

A turn is a unit of plane angle, equal to 360? or 2p radians. As an angular unit it is mainly useful for large angles, such as in connection with coils and rotation objects....
 completed in one minute around a fixed axis
Rotation around a fixed axis

Rotation around a fixed axis is a special case of rotational motion. It does not involve rotation around more than one axis, and cannot describe such phenomena as wobbling or precession....
. It is most commonly used as a measure of rotational speed
Rotational speed

Rotational speed indicates, for example, how fast a motor is running. Rotational speed is equivalent to angular speed, but with different units....
 or angular velocity
Angular velocity

In physics, the angular velocity is a vector quantity which specifies the angular speed, and axis about which an object is rotating. The SI unit of angular velocity is radians per second, although it may be measured in other units such as degrees per second, revolutions per second, degrees per hour, etc....
 of some mechanical component.

Standards organization
Standards organization

A standards organization, standards body, standards development organization or SDO is any entity whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise maintaining standards that address the interests of a wide base of users outside the standards develo...
s generally recommend the symbol r/min, which is more consistent with the general use of unit symbols. This is not enforced as an international standard; in French, for example, tr/mn (tours par minute) is commonly used.

The German unit reads 1/min (= 1 min-1); 1 rpm is also 1/min = 1/(60s) = 1/60 Hertz.

The corresponding International System of Units (SI)
Si

Si, si, or SI may refer to :...
 unit would be the hertz
Hertz

The hertz is a measure of frequency per unit of time, or the number of list of cycles per second. It is the SI base unit of frequency in the International System of Units , and is used worldwide in both general-purpose and scientific contexts....
 and we have:
3600 r/min = 60 revolutions per second
Second

The second , sometimes abbreviated sec., is the name of a units of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units SI base unit of time....
 (60 r/sec) = 60 Hz.
That means: 1 revolution is equal to 1/60 second or 16.667 milliseconds.

In the SI one often uses the unit for angular velocity which is radians per second
Radian per second

The radian per second is the SI unit of angular velocity. It is also the unit of angular frequency.The radian per second is defined as the change in the orientation of an object, in radians, every second....
 (rad·s−1):
1 r/min = 2p rad·min−1 = 2p/60 rad·s−1 ˜ 0.10471976 rad·s−1


To convert revolutions per minute to revolutions per second (hertz), one simply divides by 60.






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Encyclopedia


Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, r/min, or r·min−1) is a unit
Units of measurement

The definition, agreement and practical use of units of measurement have played a crucial role in human endeavour from early ages up to this day....
 of frequency
Frequency

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency....
: the number of full rotations
Turn (geometry)

A turn is a unit of plane angle, equal to 360? or 2p radians. As an angular unit it is mainly useful for large angles, such as in connection with coils and rotation objects....
 completed in one minute around a fixed axis
Rotation around a fixed axis

Rotation around a fixed axis is a special case of rotational motion. It does not involve rotation around more than one axis, and cannot describe such phenomena as wobbling or precession....
. It is most commonly used as a measure of rotational speed
Rotational speed

Rotational speed indicates, for example, how fast a motor is running. Rotational speed is equivalent to angular speed, but with different units....
 or angular velocity
Angular velocity

In physics, the angular velocity is a vector quantity which specifies the angular speed, and axis about which an object is rotating. The SI unit of angular velocity is radians per second, although it may be measured in other units such as degrees per second, revolutions per second, degrees per hour, etc....
 of some mechanical component.

Standards organization
Standards organization

A standards organization, standards body, standards development organization or SDO is any entity whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise maintaining standards that address the interests of a wide base of users outside the standards develo...
s generally recommend the symbol r/min, which is more consistent with the general use of unit symbols. This is not enforced as an international standard; in French, for example, tr/mn (tours par minute) is commonly used.

The German unit reads 1/min (= 1 min-1); 1 rpm is also 1/min = 1/(60s) = 1/60 Hertz.

The corresponding International System of Units (SI)
Si

Si, si, or SI may refer to :...
 unit would be the hertz
Hertz

The hertz is a measure of frequency per unit of time, or the number of list of cycles per second. It is the SI base unit of frequency in the International System of Units , and is used worldwide in both general-purpose and scientific contexts....
 and we have:
3600 r/min = 60 revolutions per second
Second

The second , sometimes abbreviated sec., is the name of a units of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units SI base unit of time....
 (60 r/sec) = 60 Hz.
That means: 1 revolution is equal to 1/60 second or 16.667 milliseconds.

In the SI one often uses the unit for angular velocity which is radians per second
Radian per second

The radian per second is the SI unit of angular velocity. It is also the unit of angular frequency.The radian per second is defined as the change in the orientation of an object, in radians, every second....
 (rad·s−1):
1 r/min = 2p rad·min−1 = 2p/60 rad·s−1 ˜ 0.10471976 rad·s−1


To convert revolutions per minute to revolutions per second (hertz), one simply divides by 60. The opposite is true when converting from hertz to RPM, where one multiplies by 60 instead.

Examples


  • On some kinds of disc or tape-like recording media, the rotational speed of the medium under the read head is a standard given in r/min. Gramophone (phonograph) records
    Gramophone record

    A gramophone record is an analog signal sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc....
    , for example, typically rotate steadily at 16 2/3, 33?, 45 or 78 r/min (4/15, 5/9, ³/4, or 1.3 Hz).
  • Modern ultrasonic dental drill
    Dental drill

    A dental drill is a small, high-speed drill used in dentistry to remove decayed tooth material prior to the insertion of a dental filling. Dental drills are used in the treatment of dental caries....
    s can rotate at up to 800,000 r/min (10 kHz).
  • The "second" hand of a conventional analogue clock rotates at 1 r/min.
  • Audio CD
    Red Book (audio CD standard)

    Red Book is the standardization for audio Compact Disc . It is named after one of a set of Rainbow Books that contain the Specification for all CD and CD-ROM formats....
     players read their discs at a constant 150 kB/s and thus must vary the disc's rotational speed from around 500 r/min (actually 8 Hz), when reading at the innermost edge, to 200 r/min (actually 3.5 Hz) at the outer edge. CD-ROM drives’ maximum rotational speeds are rated in multiples of this figure, even though they do not hold to constant read speeds when reading from most disc formats.
  • DVD
    DVD

    DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
     players also usually read discs at a constant linear rate. The disc's rotational speed varies from 1530 r/min (actually 25.5 Hz), when reading at the innermost edge, and 630 r/min (actually 10.5 Hz) at the outer edge. DVD drives’ speeds are usually given in multiples of this figure.
  • A washing machine
    Washing machine

    A washing machine, or washer, is a machine designed to clean laundry, such as clothing, towels and Bed sheets. The term is mostly applied only to machines that use water as the primary cleaning solution, as opposed to dry cleaning or even ultrasonic cleaners....
    's drum may rotate at 500 to 2000 r/min (8–33 Hz) during the spin cycles.
  • A power generation turbine rotates at 3000 r/min (50 Hz).
  • An automobile
    Automobile

    An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
    's engine
    Engine

    An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input.An engine whose purpose is to produce kinetic energy output from a fuel is called a Wiktionary:prime mover; alternatively, a motor is a device which produces kinetic energy from a preprocessed "fuel" ....
     typically varies between 700 and 7000 r/min (12–120 Hz) though some cars’ engines can spin as quickly as 11,000 r/min (180 Hz).
  • A piston aircraft engine
    Aircraft engine

    An aircraft engine is a propulsion system for an aircraft. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines....
     typically rotates at a rate between 2000 and 3000 r/min (30–50 Hz).
  • Computers’ hard drives typically rotate at 5400 or 7200 r/min (90 or 120 Hz)—most commonly with ATA or SATA
    Serial ATA

    The Serial ATA computer bus is a storage-interface for connecting Host adapter to mass storage devices .Conceptually, SATA is a 'wire replacement' for the older AT Attachment standard ....
     interfaces—and some high-performance drives rotate at 10,000 or 15,000 r/min (160 or 250 Hz)—usually with SATA, SCSI
    SCSI

    Small Computer System Interface, or SCSI , is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices....
     or Fibre Channel
    Fibre Channel

    Fibre Channel, or FC, is a gigabit-speed network technology primarily used for storage networking. Fibre Channel is standardized in the Technical Committee T11 of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards , an American National Standards Institute ?accredited standards committee....
     interfaces.
  • The engine of a Formula One
    Formula One

    Formula One, abbreviated to F1, and currently officially referred as the FIA Formula One World Championship is the highest class of auto racing sanctioned by the F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile ....
     racing car
    Formula One car

    A modern Formula One car is a single-seat, open cockpit, open wheel car race car with substantial front and rear wings, and engine positioned behind the driver....
     can reach 19,000 r/min (320 Hz) under some circumstances.
  • A Zippe-type centrifuge
    Zippe-type centrifuge

    The Zippe-type centrifuge is a particular design of gas centrifuge. It was developed in the Soviet Union by a team of 60 German scientists working in detention, captured after World War II....
     for enriching uranium spins at 90,000 r/min (1,500 Hz) or faster.
  • Gas turbine
    Gas turbine

    A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a flow of combustion gas. It has an upstream compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
     engines rotate at tens of thousands of r/min. JetCat model aircraft turbines are capable of over 100,000 r/min (1,700 Hz) with the fastest reaching 165,000 r/min (2,750 Hz).
  • An electromechanical battery (EMB) works at 60,000–200,000 r/min (1–3 kHz) range using a passively magnetic levitated flywheel in vacuum. The choice of the flywheel material is not the most dense, but the one that pulverises the most safely, at surface speeds about 7 times the speed of sound.
  • A turbocharger
    Turbocharger

    A turbocharger, or turbo, is a gas compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine. Like a supercharger, the purpose of a turbocharger is to increase the mass of air entering the engine to create more power....
     can reach 290,000 r/min (4,800 Hz), while 80,000–200,000 r/min (1–3 kHz) is common.


See also


  • Orders of magnitude (angular velocity)
    Orders of magnitude (angular velocity)

    This page is a progressive and labeled list of the SI angular velocity orders of magnitude, with certain examples appended to some list objects....
  • Constant linear velocity
    Constant linear velocity

    In optical storage, constant linear velocity is a qualifier for the rated speed of an optical disc drive, and may also be applied to the writing speed of recordable optical disc....
    , or CLV, used when referring to the speed of audio CDs
  • Constant angular velocity
    Constant angular velocity

    In optical storage, constant angular velocity is a qualifier for the rated speed of an optical disc drive, and may also be applied to the writing speed of recordable optical disc....
    , or CAV, used when referring to the speed of gramophone (phonograph) records
  • Turn (geometry)
    Turn (geometry)

    A turn is a unit of plane angle, equal to 360? or 2p radians. As an angular unit it is mainly useful for large angles, such as in connection with coils and rotation objects....