Unit converters · Durations and angles
Convert a duration (seconds, minutes, hours, days)
Every duration routes through the second. Months and years are deliberately absent: their length varies, unlike the week, which is always 604,800 seconds.
Calculate
How the calculator works
The input is converted into seconds, then into the target unit. Every factor is exact: a minute is 60 seconds, an hour 3,600, a day 86,400 and a week 604,800. A month has no fixed length and a civil year alternates between 365 and 366 days, so those belong to date arithmetic, not to a linear conversion.
Formula and method
t(s) = x × kfrom ; y = t(s) / kto
k is the unit's factor to the second.
1 h = 3600 s ; 1 day = 86,400 s
Exact factors of the civil calendar.
1 week = 7 × 86,400 = 604,800 s
The week is the largest genuinely constant unit of duration.
The second is the SI unit of time, defined by the hyperfine transition of caesium-133. The usual multiples — minute, hour, day — are not SI units but their use is accepted. The 86,400-second civil day ignores leap seconds, which are rare and decided case by case.
Worked example
90 minutes in hours
x = 90, from min to h.
- 90 × 60 = 5,400 s.
- 5,400 / 3,600 = 1.5 h.
1.5 hours, that is 1 h 30.
3 days in seconds
x = 3, from day to s.
- 3 × 86,400 = 259,200 s.
259,200 seconds.
Input notes
- Value
- The duration alone, without the unit. A decimal result such as 1.5 h reads as 1 h 30.
- From
- Starting unit. The default is the minute.
- To
- Target unit. The default is the hour.
Assumptions and limits
Assumptions
- 1 day = 86,400 seconds, with no leap second.
- 1 week = 7 days exactly.
- Months and years are excluded because their length varies.
Limits
- No conversion into months or years: use date arithmetic instead.
- Leap seconds and daylight-saving changes are not taken into account.
- A decimal result is not a clock reading: 1.75 h is 1 h 45, not 1 h 75.
How to read the result
1.5 hours means an hour and a half, so 1 h 30. The classic slip is reading the decimal part as minutes: 1.75 h is 1 h 45 because 0.75 × 60 = 45. To add up working hours, convert everything into minutes, add, then go back to hours.
Common mistakes
Reading 2.5 h as 2 h 50.
0.5 of an hour is 30 minutes: 2.5 h = 2 h 30.
Converting a duration into months with a fixed factor.
A month lasts 28 to 31 days; use date arithmetic.
Ignoring the clock change on a duration crossing March or October.
That day has 23 or 25 hours; this converter assumes 24.
Comparison
| Unit | To the second | Constant? |
|---|---|---|
| ms | 0.001 | Yes |
| s | 1 | SI unit |
| min | 60 | Yes |
| h | 3,600 | Yes |
| day | 86,400 | Yes, leap seconds aside |
| week | 604,800 | Yes |
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Frequently asked questions
Why are months not offered?
Their length varies.
A month runs from 28 to 31 days. No constant factor represents it, so a linear conversion would be wrong. The difference between two dates answers that need instead.
How many seconds in a day?
86,400 seconds.
24 hours of 3,600 seconds gives 86,400 seconds. The rare leap seconds added at the end of some years are not counted.
How do I read 7.25 hours?
7 h 15.
Multiply the decimal part by 60: 0.25 × 60 = 15 minutes. The result is 7 hours and 15 minutes.
Author and update
Written by Rédaction HexaCalc (editorial team). Content last updated: August 25, 2026. No third-party medical or financial review is claimed.
- NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B: Conversion Factors — National Institute of Standards and Technology
- The International System of Units (SI) — Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM)
Counting days between two dates?
The days calculator handles months of varying length and leap years.
Days between datesCategory: Unit converters