CalcunautTime Conversion
Time Converter
Convert Time Units
Convert between different time units
Table of Contents
Interactive Time Explorer
Explore Time Scales
Visualize and compare different time units
Drag the slider to see how the same duration is represented in different time units.
Time Conversion Formulas
Time Conversion Formulas
Use these formulas to convert between different time units
Seconds Conversions:
- minutes = seconds ÷ 60
- hours = seconds ÷ 3600
- days = seconds ÷ 86400
Minutes Conversions:
- seconds = minutes × 60
- hours = minutes ÷ 60
- days = minutes ÷ 1440
Hours Conversions:
- seconds = hours × 3600
- minutes = hours × 60
- days = hours ÷ 24
Days Conversions:
- seconds = days × 86400
- minutes = days × 1440
- hours = days × 24
Weeks Conversions:
- days = weeks × 7
Interesting Time Facts
A day on Earth is actually 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds long.
The Earth's rotation is slowing down. Days are getting longer by about 1.8 milliseconds per century.
The ancient Egyptians were the first to divide the day into 24 hours.
A year is not exactly 365 days. It's actually 365.242199 days long.
The most accurate clock in the world is the strontium atomic clock, accurate to within one second over 15 billion years.
On Mercury, a single day (from one sunrise to the next) lasts about 176 Earth days.
Time Comparisons
| Event | Seconds | Minutes | Hours | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blink of an eye | 0.1 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Heartbeat | 0.8 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Microwave minute | 60 | 1.00 | 0.02 | 0.00 |
| Lunch break | 3,600 | 60.00 | 1.00 | 0.04 |
| Full night's sleep | 28,800 | 480.00 | 8.00 | 0.33 |
| Weekend | 172,800 | 2880.00 | 48.00 | 2.00 |
| Moon orbit around Earth | 2,360,591 | 39343.18 | 655.72 | 27.32 |
| Earth orbit around Sun | 31,556,952 | 525949.20 | 8765.82 | 365.24 |
Note: These are approximate durations and may vary slightly depending on specific circumstances.
Time Knowledge Quiz
Test Your Knowledge
Answer these questions about time units and conversions
How many seconds are in a minute?
Question 1 of 5
History of Time Measurement
The Evolution of Measuring Time
From ancient methods to modern standards
- Ancient civilizations used sundials and water clocks to measure time.
- The mechanical clock was invented in Europe around the 14th century.
- The pendulum clock, invented by Christiaan Huygens in 1656, greatly improved timekeeping accuracy.
- The quartz clock, developed in the 1920s, revolutionized timekeeping with its high precision.
- Atomic clocks, first built in 1955, are the most accurate timekeeping devices, losing only one second in millions of years.
- The definition of a second was standardized in 1967 based on the vibrations of a cesium atom.
Real-World Applications
Time Conversion in Practice
How time conversion is used in various fields
- Astronomy: Converting between different time scales (e.g., UTC, TAI, GMT) for precise observations.
- Computer Science: Handling timestamps and time zones in software applications.
- Transportation: Calculating travel times and coordinating schedules across time zones.
- Project Management: Converting between work hours, days, and weeks for project planning.
- Sports: Timing events and converting between different race formats (e.g., marathon times to pace per mile/km).
- Finance: Calculating interest rates and investment returns over different time periods.
Accuracy in Time Measurement
Precision and Accuracy
Understanding the importance of accurate time measurements
Accurate time measurement is crucial in many fields, from scientific research to everyday life. Here are some key points about accuracy:
- Atomic clocks are the most accurate timekeeping devices, with an error of only about 1 second in 100 million years.
- GPS systems rely on extremely precise time measurements to determine location accurately.
- In particle physics experiments, time measurements can be accurate to picoseconds (10^-12 seconds).
- Leap seconds are occasionally added to UTC to account for the slowing of Earth's rotation.
- Relativistic time dilation affects time measurement for objects moving at high speeds or in strong gravitational fields.
Glossary of Time Terms
- Second
- The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI).
- Minute
- A unit of time equal to 60 seconds.
- Hour
- A unit of time equal to 60 minutes or 3,600 seconds.
- Day
- A unit of time approximately equal to the period of rotation of the Earth, or 24 hours.
- Week
- A unit of time equal to 7 days.
- Month
- A unit of time approximately equal to one-twelfth of a year, varying between 28 and 31 days.
- Year
- The time taken by the Earth to complete one revolution around the Sun, approximately 365.25 days.
- Leap Year
- A year containing an extra day (February 29th) to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year.