Split down a number in seconds to days, hours, minutes, and seconds?

Question

I\'ve heard that it\'s possible to accomplish this using the modulus % operator present in most programming languages. The real question is, how? I\'m unfamiliar wi

Answer 1

When you do integer division, you get quotient and remainder. For example,

5 divided by 3 is quotient 1 with remainder 2.

In programming languages, this is usually expressed as:

5 / 3   # => 1
5 % 3   # => 2

The conversion you want is just a repeatation of this. It's easier to to start from the lower unit and go higher on.

First, you have

• 1307758473.484 seconds

Since 60 seconds is 1 minute, and

1307758473.484 / 60 = 21795974  (intended to be integer division)
1307758473.484 % 60 = 33.484,

it is the same as

• 21795974 minutes 33.484 seconds

Since 60 minutes is 1 hour, and

21795974 / 60 = 363266
21795974 % 60 = 14

it is further the same as

• 363266 hours 14 minutes 33.484 seconds

Now, there is a little bit of difficulty. Most days are 24 hours. When there is a leap second, it is not. If you ignore leap seconds and assume 1 day is 24 hours, then, by doing the calculation,

363266 / 24 = 15136
363266 % 24 = 2

it is further the same as

• 15136 days 2 hours 14 minutes 33.484 seconds.

Similarly, Most years are 365 days. When there is a leap day (year), it is not. If you ignore leap days and assume that 1 year is 365 days, then by doing the calculation,

15136 / 365 = 41
15136 % 365 = 171

it is further the same as

• 41 years 171 days 2 hours 14 minutes 33.483 seconds