Jerk converter
Convert jerk — the rate acceleration changes — between m/s³ and g per second.
That's about the same as a lift starting. At that rate, acceleration reaches one g in about 9.807 seconds.
What it means
How sharp is that?
Comfort limits are usually about 1 to 1.5 m/s³ for lifts and 0.5 to 1 m/s³ for trains. Above that, passengers reach for the handrail.
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Your jerk in every unit
Learn
Three things worth knowing
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Lifts are limited to about 1 m/s³
Which means the lift takes about ten seconds to build up to one g. Roller coasters deliberately go twenty times higher.
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The third derivative
Position, then speed, then acceleration, then jerk. It has practical uses in machine control too: limiting jerk is what stops a robot arm from shaking itself apart.
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Jerk is not acceleration
A car cornering hard has high acceleration and almost no jerk once it is settled in the curve. It is the moment of turning in that you feel.
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Popular jerk conversions
Background
About jerk
Acceleration you get used to; changes in acceleration are what you notice. Jerk is the rate of that change, and it is what lift and railway engineers actually design to.
A lift accelerating smoothly at 1 m/s² feels fine. The same lift reaching that acceleration in a tenth of a second — 10 m/s³ of jerk — feels like a shove.