Converting Units
Physics: AQA A Level, topic 1.1.5
Converting Units
It is useful to be able to convert between different units in physics. Here, we look at converting hours to seconds:
Hours to seconds
- To convert hours to seconds, we need to consider how many minutes there are in each hour and how many seconds are in each minute. So for example:
- 3 hours contains 3 × 60 minutes = 180 minutes.
- 180 minutes contains 180 × 60 seconds = 10,800 seconds.
- So there are 10,800 seconds in 3 hours.
Adding minutes
- Remember that if there are minutes, they need to be added after step one. For example:
- 2 hours 20 minutes contains (2 × 60) + 20 = 140 minutes.
- 140 minutes contains 140 × 60 seconds = 8,400 seconds.
- A common error here would be to use the time as 2.2 hours which would give 7,920 seconds!
Test yourself on Converting Units
How many seconds in an hour?
How many seconds in a minute?