Using Date and Time Durations in Calculations
Numbers recognizes date and time durations so you can use them in calculations. For example, say you want to calculate the total or average of your lap times in a race. You could enter a lap time as “2min 2sec” or any other commonly accepted units of time.
When you perform a calculation using these values, Numbers takes into account that there are 60 seconds in a minute, 24 hours in a day, and so on, so that the result you get is a proper duration of time.
To set how durations are displayed:
- Select the cell or cells.
- Choose Duration from the Cell Formats pop-up menu in the format bar to open the Cells inspector.
- In the Cells inspector, drag the Units control to set the units displayed for a duration value.
- To choose a single unit, drag the left or right end of the slider toward the center until it can’t get shorter. Then click the center of the slider and drag it over the unit you want to use.
- To choose more than one unit, resize and drag the slider until it’s over the units you want to use.
