This question stemmed from a conversation about measuring the speed of two very different objects. I realized that, unlike other measures that have their own units (length, mass, etc.), speed is measured using a ratio of distance and time. So I was wondering, does the size of the objects get factored into the measurement somehow? If speed is only ever measured using this distance/time approach (mph, for example), then wouldn’t the measure of speed become problematic since a large object is able to cover more distance than a small object?
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Funnily enough, it’s actually the opposite way round, now. Speeds are effectively measured compared to the speed of light, because distance is really defined based on how far light can travel within a specific time.
But, that’s a bit of a long story. The other part of your question is about the size of something, and if that affects speed. Say there’s a train that’s a mile long, and the back of it is right at the start of the track. The front of the train is at the 1mile marker. Suppose after an hour, the front of the train is now at the 2 mile marker. Would you say the train has travelled at a speed of 2mph? No, because the train hasn’t *travelled* 2 miles, only 1 mile. The length doesn’t matter. It just matters how far each bit of the train has moved, and each bit has moved 1 mile.
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