Time

Time Conversions

Be able to convert between different units of time. The most common ones being between hours and minutes and between minutes and seconds.

Time Variables

Some equation questions might have variables that stand in for time, especially as an exponent. The question may then ask for how to maintain the same equation using a different variable for time.

For example, taking the equation T = 100(1.05)^twhere t is the time in hours. If a question wanted this converted to minutes, but without changing the actual equation, then there will need to be compensation for the unit change.

Going from hours to minutes means that the exponent would become larger if there was no compensation. As a result, the new variable will need to be divided by 60 (as this is the number of minutes in an hour).

Therefore, the new equation would look like: 

T=100(1.05)m60where m is the number of minutes.

The key for keeping equations consistent while changing exponent variables is that if you’re subbing in a bigger variable, then it will need to be divided by something, and if you’re subbing in a smaller variable, then it will need to be multiplied by something.