Question

Convert the following: 8 minutes to seconds.

Answer 1

The basic conversions of time are 1 hour = 60 minutes, 1 minute = 60 seconds. We know what is 1 minute. Then find the value of 8 minutes in seconds by multiplying the value of 1 minute by 8 minutes.

“Complete step-by-step answer:”
We know the basics of time, that,
1 hour = 60 minutes
1 minute = 60 seconds
Therefore 8 minutes = $$8\times 60$$ = 480 seconds.
If we are considering other examples, then,
For example a given time $$2:45:45$$ is 2 hours 45 minutes and 45 seconds. So to convert 2:45:45 to hours, 2 hours remains the same. We need to convert 45 minutes to hours.
Divide 45 minutes by 60 minutes because we know that 1 hour = 60 minutes.
Similarly to convert 45 seconds into 1 hour = 60 minutes = $$60\times 60$$seconds = 3600 seconds.
Hence divide 45 seconds with 3600 seconds to get the hour.
$$2hr+{\displaystyle \frac{45}{60}}hr+{\displaystyle \frac{45}{3600}}hr=2hr+0.75hr+0.0125hr=2.7625hr.$$
Now if we need to convert 2:45:45 into minutes, then,
$$2hr\times {\displaystyle \frac{60min}{1hr}}+45min+45s\times {\displaystyle \frac{1min}{60s}}$$
Here 1 hour = 60 minutes.
$$\therefore 2hr=60\times 2=120min$$
45 minutes is already in minutes so we don’t need to change it.
Now we need to convert 45 seconds into minutes.
1 minute = 60 seconds.
So by dividing 45 seconds by 60 seconds, it gets converted to minutes.
$${\displaystyle \frac{2hr}{1hr}}\times 60min+45min+{\displaystyle \frac{45s}{60s}}\times 1min=120min+45min+0.75min=165.75min$$
Hence we changed 2:45:45 into hours and minutes.
Similarly, we changed 8 minutes into 480 seconds.

Note:
Time is one of the important topics that we learn from small grades onwards. Remember how to convert between hour, minute and seconds.
To convert from hour to minute multiply by 60 minutes, i.e. 1 hour = 60 minutes
To convert from hour to seconds multiply by 3600 seconds; 1 hour = 3600 seconds = $$(60\times 60)$$seconds, i.e. 1 minute = 60 seconds.
Similarly,
To convert from minute to hour divide it by 60 minutes;
To convert from minute to hour divide it by 3600 seconds;