# rate (speed)

How much a parameter changes in each unit of time.

- Computed level: L6 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: systems

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition), [change](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-change.process), [unit](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-unit.measurement), [time](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-time.dimension)

**Through:** Change measured against time rather than in total: the same distance moved fast or slow is the same change at different rates, and walls are often crossed by rate, not by amount.

**Novel properties:**
- change read per unit of time
- the difference between how much and how fast
- what drift and maintenance are compared by

## Examples
- A car at 100 km/h and one at 50 km/h cover the same 100 km; only the first arrives in an hour. *(physics)*

## Used by
- [arrival time](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-arrival-time.until-wall) (L12)
- [boiling frog](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-boiling-frog.drift) (L12)
- [burnout](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-burnout.capacity) (L19)
- [decay](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-decay.process) (L15)
- [grip](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-grip.constraint) (L13)
- [keeping the lights on](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-keeping-the-lights-on.upkeep) (L16)
- [kicking the can down the road](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-kicking-the-can-down-the-road.upkeep) (L15)
- [layer](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-layer.stratum) (L14)
- [neglect](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-neglect.omission) (L15)
- [power](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-power.energy) (L7)
- [resilience](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-resilience.recovery-rate) (L15)
- [scarcity](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-scarcity.condition) (L16)
- [symmetry versus regularity licence](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-symmetry-versus-regularity-licence.licence) (L12)

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-rate.speed*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-rate.speed.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*