How to Convert Seconds Into Hours

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

There are 3,600 seconds in 1 hour. The easiest way to convert seconds to hours is to divide the number of seconds by 3,600. To understand the reason for this conversion, it can be helpful to set up conversion tables, in which you first convert the number of seconds to minutes, and then the number of minutes to hours.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Dividing by 3,600

1
Determine the number of seconds you have. This information should be given, or it should be a figure you calculated yourself.^{[1]
X
Research source}
- For example, you might be converting 2,400 seconds into hours.
2
Divide the number of seconds by 3,600. Note that there are 3,600 seconds in one hour.^{[2]
X
Research source} So, if you have more than 3,600 seconds, your conversion will be greater than 1 hour. If you have less than 3,600 seconds, your conversion will be a fraction of an hour.
- For example, ${\frac {2,400}{3,600}}=0.6667$ . So, 2,400 seconds is equal to 0.6667 hours.
- As another example, ${\frac {5,600}{3,600}}=1.5556$ . So, 5,600 seconds is equal to 1.5556 hours.
Advertisement
3
Convert your decimal to minutes. This step is helpful if you are working with a number of seconds equal to less than an hour, so that you can gauge how long a certain decimal is. To convert the decimal to minutes, multiply it by 60.^{[3]
X
Research source}
- For example, $0.6667\times 60=40$ . So, 2,400 seconds is equal to .6667 hours, or 40 minutes.
- For your second example, you have 1 whole hour, plus 0.5556 of an hour. So, you only need to convert 0.5556 to an hour: $0.5556\times 60=33.336$ . So, 5,600 seconds is equal to about 1 hour, 33 minutes.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Converting to Minutes with a Table

1
Set up a table with two columns and two rows. Label the first row “seconds” and the second row “minutes.”
2
Write the unit rate in the first column. A unit rate is a rate with a denominator of 1.^{[4]
X
Research source} In this instance, you are comparing 1 minute to a number of seconds. 1 minute = 60 seconds. So, your unit rate is ${\frac {60\;{\text{seconds}}}{1\;{\text{minute}}}}$ . To show this in the chart, write "60" in the top row of the first column, and write "1" in the bottom row of the first column.
3
Fill in the number of seconds you are converting. This value should go in the first row of the second column.
- For example, if you are converting 9,000 seconds to hours, write “9,000” in the first row, second column of your table.
4
Determine the factor of change. In this instance, you are trying to find out how much the number of seconds you are converting changed from the number of seconds in the unit rate. To find the factor of change, divide the number of seconds you are converting by 60, the number of seconds in the unit rate. Note this factor, but do not write it in your chart.
- For example, if you are converting 9,000 seconds, you would calculate ${\frac {9,000}{60}}=150$ . So, the factor of change is 150.
5
Multiply the number of minutes by the factor of change. Since the number of minutes is only 1, you really only need to write down the result of the number of seconds divided by 60.^{[5]
X
Research source} This will show you the conversion of seconds to minutes.
- For example, $1\times 150=150$ . So, 9,000 seconds is equal to 150 minutes.
6
Convert the number of minutes into hours. To do this, set up another conversion table, using minutes and hours instead of seconds and minutes. The unit rate is 60 minutes per 1 hour. Use the number of minutes you are converting, instead of the number of seconds, in this table.
- For example, if you converted 9,000 seconds to 150 minutes, you are now converting 150 minutes to a number of hours. In your table, you need to find the factor of change from 60 minutes to 150 minutes. Since ${\frac {150}{60}}=2.5$ , your factor of change is 2.5. Multiply this by 1 hour. $1\times 2.5=2.5$ . So, $9,000\;{\text{seconds}}=150\;{\text{minutes}}=2.5\;{\text{hours}}$ .

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Solving Sample Problems

1
Convert the following into hours: 12,400 seconds.
- Divide 12,400 by 3,600, the number of seconds in 1 hour: ${\frac {12,400}{3,600}}=3.4445$ .
- Convert the decimal of an hour to minutes. To do this, multiply the decimal by 60: $.4444\times 60=26.664$ , or about 26 minutes. So, 12,400 seconds is equal to about 3 hours and 26 minutes.
2
Convert Kristin's time to hours. She ran a 100 m sprint in 14 seconds.
- Divide 14 by 3,600: ${\frac {14}{3600}}=.0038889$ . So, Kristin ran the sprint in about 4 thousandths of an hour.
3
Convert 5,000 seconds into hours by first converting to minutes.
- Set up a table. In the first column, write the unit rate of 60 seconds per 1 minute.
- In the second column, write the number of seconds you are converting: 5,000.
- Find the factor of change by dividing the number of seconds you are converting by 60: ${\frac {5000}{60}}=83.3334$ .
- Set up another table. In the first column, write the unit rate of 60 minutes per 1 hour.
- In the second column, write the number of minutes you are converting: 83.3334.
- Find the factor of change by dividing the number of minutes you are converting by 60: ${\frac {83.3334}{60}}=1.38889$ . So, $5,000\;{\text{seconds}}=83.3334\;{\text{minutes}}=1.3889\;{\text{hours}}$ .

Community Q&A

Question

How do I convert 2 hours to seconds?

Sergeantpro

Community Answer

1 hour = 60 minutes = 3600 seconds, so 2 hours = 120 minutes = 7200 seconds.
Question

How do I divide 14 hours 15 minutes by 10?

Donagan

Top Answerer

First convert to minutes by multiplying 60 by 14 and adding 15. Then divide by 10. Convert back to hours and minutes if desired.
Question

What is 30 seconds converted into hours?

Donagan

Top Answerer

30/3600 = 1/120 of an hour.