Confused about converting minutes into time? Do not worry! You can do this in just a few ways. Dividing the number of minutes by 60 will equal the time in hours, because there are 60 minutes in an hour.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Convert Minutes to Time
Step 1. Start with the number of minutes
You can do this in a different way. For example, if you're calculating manually by writing on paper, write down the number of minutes and name the number "minutes." If you're using a calculator, just type in the amount.
For example, let's say we want to find out how many hours a film is 150 minutes long. In this case, we start by writing "150 minutes" on paper or a calculator. We will solve this case in several stages
Step 2. Multiply that number by "1 hour/60 minutes." After that, write down a times sign (×), then the fraction 1 hour/60 minutes, which shows how many minutes are in an hour (60). When multiplied, we also get the result with the correct units (because the two “minutes”) cancel each other out.
It's the same as divide by 60/1, or 60. If you need help dividing and multiplying fractions, check out WikiHow's help article on this topic.
Step 3. Solve the problem
Now you have to count. The answer you get is the number of hours you are looking for.
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In the example above, 150 minutes × 1 hour/60 minutes = 2.5 hours, or 2 1/2 hours.
The result is the same if we divide 150 by 60 or 150/60.
Step 4. To get the minutes again, multiply the result by 60
Multiplying a number in hours by 60 returns a number in minutes. Technically, you multiply by 60 minutes/1 hour to make these two “hours” cancel each other out.
In this example, multiply 2.5 hours × 60 minutes/1 hour = 150 minutes - and we'll get the initial amount.
Step 5. If you are using the hour and minute units of measurement, change the minutes
Sometimes time is measured using the form: x hours y minutes. In a case like this, you can change the "y minutes" and then add it to "x hours". The result is the total time in hours.
For example, we have to convert 3 hours 9 minutes into hours only. All we have to do is figure out what 9 minutes is in hours, then add 3 hours. In other words, 9 minutes × 1 hour/60 minutes = 0.15 hours + 3 hours = 3.15 hours.
Method 2 of 2: Changing to Hours and Minutes
Step 1. Change the minutes to hours as usual
Until now, we've only discussed how to get answers in hours. But since time is often written as hours and minutes, it seems good to know how to write numbers in this form too. Fortunately, this is quite easy. To get started, just convert the numbers in minutes to hours as learned in the section above.
We will follow this explanation by using an example problem. If we wanted to convert 260 minutes into hours, we would multiply 260 minutes × 1 hour/60 minutes = 4.33 hours or 4 1/3 hours.
Step 2. Multiply the decimal or fraction by 60, unless the converted number is not a fraction or a decimal
You'll want to multiply this part by 60. Leave the number alone - because we're only focusing on "extra" decimals or fractions. Write your answer in "minutes".
- In this example, we will simply multiply ".33" by 60. 0.33 × 60 = 20 minutes.
- If we used a fraction instead of the decimal 0.33, the answer would still be the same. 1/3 × 60 = 20 minutes.
Step 3. Write the answer in hours and minutes
The answer you just got is just the "minutes" part, because the "hours" part is already known - it's the same number you got when you first converted. Write your answer like this: x hours, y minutes.
In the example used, our first answer is 4.33 hours. We just found out that the ".33" part equals 20 minutes, so we'll write the answer as 4 hours 20 minutes.
Tips
- Looking for an easier and faster way of converting? Online calculators like this one can convert minutes to hours in just a few seconds!
- It will be more difficult to get numbers in the form of minutes and seconds. To get the result, divide the number of seconds by 60 to get the number in minutes, then add it to the number of minutes, and finally divide again by 60 to get the hours.
