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Converting units of time review (seconds, minutes, & hours)

Review the size of seconds, minutes, and hours and how to convert between them.  Then, try some practice problems.

Units of time

Units of time measure how long something lasts. For example, how many seconds can you hold your breath, or how many minutes long is your favorite movie?

How long are different units?

A second is a short amount of time. It takes about 1 second to turn on a light or open the refrigerator door.
A minute is equal to 60 seconds. It takes about 1 minute to brush your teeth.
An hour is equal to 60 minutes. Extracurricular activities (gymnastics, piano lessons, soccer practice) often last about 1 hour.
Want to learn more about units of time? Check out this video.

Practice set 1: Estimating time

Problem 1A
Identify the most reasonable unit to measure the time it takes to bake a pan of cookies.
Choose 1 answer:

Want to try more problems like this? Check out this exercise.

Converting larger units to smaller units

1 minute=60 seconds
1 hour=60 minutes
To convert larger units to smaller units we multiply the number of larger units by 60.
Example: Converting hours to minutes
1 hour=60 minutes
6 hours=6×60=360 minutes

Converting smaller units to larger units

To convert smaller units to larger units we divide the number of smaller units by 60.
1 second=160 minute
1 minute=160 hour
Example: Converting seconds to minutes
1 second=160 minute
30 seconds=3060=12 minute
Want to learn more about units of time? Check out this video.

Practice set 2: Converting units of time

Problem 2A
Convert.
11 minutes =
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
seconds

Want to try more problems like this? Check out these exercises:
Convert larger units to smaller units
Converting between units

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