Time Unit Converter
Convert durations between sub-second scientific measurements (nanoseconds, microseconds, milliseconds) and civil time intervals (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks).
1 h = 60 min
Common Conversions
How Time Unit Conversions Work
The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) is the second (s). Civil time uses fixed sexagesimal ratios (60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour) alongside fixed astronomical intervals (24 hours per day, 7 days per week):
Why Months and Years Are Excluded
Unlike weeks or hours, months and years do not have fixed physical durations:
- A calendar month can have 28, 29, 30, or 31 days.
- A calendar year has 365 days, or 366 days in a leap year.
- A mean tropical year is approximately 365.24219 days.
Treating "1 month" as a fixed 30 days introduces errors in payroll, billing, and legal contracts. For exact calendar intervals across months and years, please use our dedicated Date Difference Calculator or Days Between Dates Calculator.
Official Time Standards & Factors
| Unit | Symbol | Type | Exact Definition in Seconds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nanosecond | ns | Sub-second SI | 0.000000001 s (10−&sup9; s) |
| Microsecond | µs | Sub-second SI | 0.000001 s (10−&sup6; s) |
| Millisecond | ms | Sub-second SI | 0.001 s (10−³ s) |
| Second | s | SI Base Unit | 1 s |
| Minute | min | Civil Time | 60 s |
| Hour | h | Civil Time | 3,600 s |
| Day | d | Civil Time | 86,400 s |
| Week | wk | Civil Time | 604,800 s |
Common Worked Examples
Example 1: Convert 2.5 Hours to Minutes
2.5 × 60 = 150 minutes.
Example 2: Convert 86,400 Seconds to Hours
86,400 ÷ 3,600 = 24 hours (1 standard day).