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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>I realized that, unlike other measures that have their own units (length, mass, etc.), speed is measured using a ratio of distance and time
Speed is not special in this. Most physical quantities that we measure are defined by being ratios of other units. For example power is measured in Watts, but the definition of a “Watt” is kilograms * meters^2 / seconds^3 . We just give a special name to it because it’s easier to say.
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