Part II: Working with Formulas and Functions
To convert decimal seconds into time, divide the number by 86400. This formula will return
0:06 (six minutes):
=390.45/86400
Adding hours, minutes, or seconds to a time
Because time values are nothing more than a decimal extension of the date serial number
system, you can add two time values together to get a cumulative time value. In some
cases, you may want to add a set number of hours and minutes to an existing time value. In
these situations, you can use the TIME function.
Cell D4 in Figure 12.20 contains this formula:
=C4+TIME(5,30,0)
In this example, we’re adding 5 hours and 30 minutes to all of the times in the list.
FIGURE 12.20
Adding a set number of hours and minutes to an existing time value
The TIME function lets you build a time value on the fly using three arguments: hour, min-
ute, and second. For example, this formula would return the time value 2:30:30 PM:
=TIME(14,30,30)
To add a certain number of hours to an existing time value, simply use the TIME function
to build a new time value and then add them together. This formula adds 30 minutes to the
existing time, resulting in a time value of 3:00 PM:
="2:30:00 PM" + TIME(0, 30, 0)
