Time Calculator
Calculate the duration between two times.
Time management is key to productivity, yet calculating durations across hours and minutes—especially when crossing noon or midnight—can be a headache. Our Time Calculator simplifies this process. Whether you are filling out a timesheet, planning a road trip, or tracking your sleep, this tool instantly computes the exact duration between your start and end times, handling all the math for you.
Time Duration
Duration
Frequently Asked Questions
Tracking Duration Effectively
Calculating the time difference between two events is useful for payroll, flight durations, driving logs, or simply improving your own time management habits.
1. The "Midnight" Problem
One of the most annoying parts of time math is handling intervals that cross midnight.
Example: If a shift starts at 10:00 PM and ends at 2:00 AM.
Standard subtraction fails here. The correct method involves treating the day as a 24-hour cycle and "borrowing" 24 hours to add to the end time (26 - 22 = 4 hours). This calculator handles that logic automatically.
2. 24-Hour vs. 12-Hour Clocks
While the 12-hour AM/PM system is standard in North America, the 24-hour clock (Military/ISO Time) is the global standard for transportation, medicine, and science to eliminate ambiguity.
- 8:00 could be breakfast or bedtime.
- 20:00 is unambiguously 8 PM.
Learning to read 24-hour time is a valuable skill for travel and international business.
3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What is a "decimal hour"?
Industrial payroll often uses decimal hours (1.5 hours) rather than minutes (1:30). To convert minutes to decimals, divide by 60. (30 mins / 60 = 0.5).
Q: Does this account for time zones?
No, this calculates the difference assuming both times are in the same time zone. For global meetings, you would need to adjust for the zone offset first.