How do I multiply time by occurrences in excel?

Question

I am making a spreadsheet documenting my roller coaster rides this summer. I want to multiply the duration of the ride by the number of times I have ridden the ride to get the total amount of time I have spent on the ride. For example, I have ridden a ride 24 times that is 1 minute, 30 seconds long. So I have been on the ride for a total of 36 minutes. However, when I multiply 24 x 1:30, I get 12:00 in excel. How do I get 36:00? Also, would the formula be different if I have spent over 60 minutes on a ride?

aphantasic · Answer

Multiply like normal numbers. If there's a decimal number, just multiply by 60. For example, 4.67 hours (0.67 x 60 = 40) or 4 hours 40 minutes.

VP · Answer

Ok, I put '24' in A3, 1:30 in B3 and the formula: =A3*B3, into C3.
Then I formatted cells B3 & C3 with: Custom -> mm:ss

That gave me the correct answer of: 36:00

If you anticipate needing to use 'hours' then you should format things with the 'hh:mm:ss' setting.  Just remember that 1 minute 45 seconds will now be: 0:1:45

L. E. Gant · Answer

It's the format of the numbers....

While excel is a good spreadsheet, if you don't format things right, it does "strange" things. 24 * 1.5 minutes  = 36 minutes, but the system doesn't always recognize 1:30 as 1.5 minutes especially in a formula/function So, it gets 12:00 (noon)

The easy way is to convert 1:30 to 1.5 (minutes), then multiply by 24, then convert back to minutes

How do I multiply time by occurrences in excel?

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