In physics, escape velocity is the spee where the kinetic energy of an object is equal to the magnitude of its gravitational potential energy, as calculated by the equation Ug = − Gm1m2 / r. It is commonly described as the speed needed to "break free" from a gravitational field (without any additional impulse). The term escape velocity can be considered a misnomer because it is actually a speed rather than a velocity, i.e. it specifies how fast the object must move but the direction of movement is irrelevant. In more technical terms, escape velocity is a scalar (and not a vector).