Date
Building a time from three numbers
Definition
Building a time from hour, minute, and second in separate cells means giving TIME those three parts in that order.
Syntax
=TIME(hour, minute, second)
Arguments
| Argument | Meaning |
|---|---|
hour |
The hour from 0 through 23. |
minute |
The minute from 0 through 59. |
second |
The second from 0 through 59. |
Worked example
A ferry list stores hour, minute, and second in separate columns for each sailing.
| A: Run | B: Hour | C: Minute | D: Second |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eve | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Late | 21 | 15 | 0 |
| Night | 23 | 0 | 0 |
Formula: =TIME(B2,C2,D2)
Result: 0.75. 18 hours is three quarters of a 24-hour day, so the serial is 0.75.
Practice
Cell A2 holds 6. Cell B2 holds 0. Cell C2 holds 0. In D2, write a formula that builds a time from that hour, minute, and second.
- In D2, write a TIME formula for hour A2, minute B2, and second C2.
- D2 should show the time for 6, 0, and 0.
Step 1 of 2
Enter =TIME(A2,B2,C2) in D2.
Hour 6, minute 0, and second 0 is 0.25.
Formulas here use English function names, such as SUM, and a period as the decimal separator, in every language.
Loading the sheet…
D2 uses TIME.
D2 now shows 0.25.
The next lesson is Reading the hour from a time.
Related functions
TIME is the function that turns those three numbers into one time.
Common mistake
Putting minute first, as in =TIME(C2,B2,D2): 0 hours and 18 minutes is not 18:00, so the serial is not 0.75.