A knot is about 1.15 miles per hour (mph).

What is a knot, exactly?

  • A knot is a unit of speed used at sea and in aviation.
  • By definition, 1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour.
  • A nautical mile is slightly longer than a regular (statute) mile, which is why a knot is a bit faster than 1 mph.

Knot to mph: simple conversion

You can think of it like this:

  • 1 knot ≈ 1.1508 mph.
  • So:
    • 5 knots ≈ 5.75 mph.
* 10 knots ≈ 11.5 mph.

* 20 knots ≈ 23.0 mph.

Handy formula

To convert knots to mph:

mph=knots×1.1508\text{mph}=\text{knots}\times 1.1508mph=knots×1.1508

For example, a boat going 30 knots is going about 30×1.1508≈34.530\times 1.1508\approx 34.530×1.1508≈34.5 mph.

Why knots instead of mph?

  • Knots are linked to nautical miles , which are based on the Earth’s latitude and longitude grid, making them convenient for navigation on sea and in the air.
  • Because charts and GPS for ships and planes use nautical miles, using knots keeps distance and speed in the same system.

HTML table: knots to mph

Here is a small reference table in HTML, as requested:

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Knots (kn)</th>
      <th>Miles per hour (mph)</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr><td>1</td><td>1.15</td></tr>
    <tr><td>5</td><td>5.75</td></tr>
    <tr><td>10</td><td>11.51</td></tr>
    <tr><td>20</td><td>23.02</td></tr>
    <tr><td>30</td><td>34.52</td></tr>
    <tr><td>40</td><td>46.03</td></tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

(Values rounded using 1 knot ≈ 1.1508 mph.)

TL;DR

  • 1 knot ≈ 1.15 mph.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.