Skip to calculator

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

Duration to convert.

Starting unit. Default: minute.

Target unit. Default: hour.

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.

  1. 90 × 60 = 5,400 s.
  2. 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.

  1. 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

Factors to the second
UnitTo the secondConstant?
ms0.001Yes
s1SI unit
min60Yes
h3,600Yes
day86,400Yes, leap seconds aside
week604,800Yes

Methodology · Sources

Related calculations

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.

Counting days between two dates?

The days calculator handles months of varying length and leap years.

Days between dates

Category: Unit converters