Level 2

TIME AS A DECIMAL
Sometimes time is written as a decimal.
2.5 hours. This is 2 hours and 30 minutes.
When dividing by time, you need to convert hours and
minutes to a decimal.
Sometimes the easiest way to convert time to decimals is to think
about the clock face.

Quarter of an hour
Half an hour
Three quarters of an hour

0.25 hour
0.5 hour
0.75 hour

When we see 3.5 hours as a decimal, it is usual to be able to change

the decimal part into minutes.
Because 60 minutes = 1 hour, we do this by multiplying the decimal
part by 60.
0.5 x 60 = 30
So 0.5 of an hour is 30 minutes
We can do this with any decimal part of an hour.
eg

0.1 hours

0.1 x 60 = 6 minutes

0.75 hours

0.75 x 60 = 45 minutes

3.25 hours

0.25 x 60 = 15 minutes
so 3.25 hrs = 3 hrs 15 minutes

5.8 hours

0.8 x 60 = 40 minutes
5.8 hrs = 5 hrs 40 minutes

Looking at the examples you can see that we

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Leave the hour the same

Multiply the decimal part by 60 to change it into minutes.

Make sure you understand the examples, then have a go at the

questions.
A)

Change these times into hours and minutes:

1)

2.4 hours

2)

5.3 hours

3)

8.6 hours

4)

3.7 hours

5)

4.2 hours

6)

7.9 hours

7)

It takes Jama 4.75 hours to run a marathon, write the time

in hours and minutes.

8)

The exact flight time from Manchester to Crete is 4.15

hours. What is this time in hours and minutes?

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Sometimes minutes are also written in decimal form.

eg 3.5 minutes
Change the decimal part into seconds by multiplying it by 60, because
1 minute = 60 seconds.
0.5 minutes = 0.5 x 60 = 30 seconds
so 3.5 minutes = 3 mins 30 secs
As you can see this works exactly the same as changing decimal hours
into hours and minutes.
Make sure you understand the examples then have a go at the
questions below.
B)

Change these times into minutes and seconds:

1)

8.5 minutes

2)

4.4 minutes

3)

9.6 minutes

4)

10.2 minutes

5)

5.7 minutes

6)

8.1 minutes

7)

On my last phone bill it says I made a call lasting 13.25

minutes. Change this to minutes and seconds for me.

8)

In a race Bernice ran a mile in 5.35 minutes. She wants to

know what her time is in minutes and seconds.

To enter a time into a calculator we need to be able to write it as a

decimal fraction, because this is the way a calculator works.
So

1 hr 30 minutes we would write as

1.5 hours

To change the minutes to a decimal part of an hour, we divide by 60,

so 30 60 = 0.5.
eg

Change these minutes to a decimal fraction of an hour:

15 minutes = 15 60 = 0.25 hours

2 hrs 50 minutes, 50 60 = 0.833 hours

so 2 hrs 50 mins = 2.833 hours

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Make sure you understand the examples, then have a go at the

following.

C)

Change these to hours:

1)

4 hrs 30 mins

2)

6 hrs 45 mins

3)

3 hrs 15 mins

4)

2 hrs 6 mins

5)

48 mins

Change these to minutes.

6)

2 mins 30 secs

7)

1 min 10 secs

8)

5 mins 3 secs

9)

12 mins 18 secs

10) 15 mins 20 secs

Check your answers, then discuss with your tutor what you need to
work on next.

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Answers
Time As A Decimal
A)

B)

C)

1) 2 hrs 24 mins

2) 5 hrs 18 mins

3) 8 hrs 36 mins

4) 3 hrs 42 mins

5) 4 hrs 12 mins

6) 7 hrs 54 mins

7) 4 hrs 45 mins

8) 4 hrs 9 mins

1) 8 mins 30 secs

2) 4 mins 24 secs

3) 9 mins 36 secs

4) 10 mins 12 secs

5) 5 mins 42 secs

6) 8 mins 6 secs

7) 13 mins 15 secs

8) 5 mins 21 secs

1) 4.5 hrs

2) 6.75 hrs

4) 2.1 hrs

5) 0.8 hrs

6) 2.5 mins

7) 1.167 mins

9) 12.3 mins

10) 15.333 mins

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3) 3.25 hrs

8) 5.05 mins