How To Add Minutes & Hours

Adding minutes and hours together, such as those found in a log book, follows the familiar rules of addition but with a slight twist. Because there are 60 minutes in an hour, it is necessary to convert values greater than 60 minutes into hours. Any fractional remainder of minutes less than 60 is kept in minute format. This deviation is simple to remember if the minutes and hours are added separately. The resulting values are then easily converted as necessary and put back together to achieve the appropriate answer.

Step 1

Write the hours and minutes to be added, grouping hours with hours and minutes with minutes. For example, if adding 2 hours 43 minutes and 1 hour 50 minutes, group 2 hours from the first time with one hour from the second time. Then group 43 minutes from the first time with 50 minutes from the second time.

Step 2

Add the hours together. In the previous example, 2 hours plus 1 hour equals 3 hours.

Step 3

Add the minutes together. Continuing the example, 43 minutes added to 50 minutes becomes 93 minutes.

Step 4

Subtract 60 from the minutes and add one to the hours if the minutes total more than 60. For example, 3 hours and 93 minutes becomes 4 hours and 33 minutes by subtracting 60 from the minutes and adding one to the hours.