Hexadecimal time
Encyclopedia
Hexadecimal time is the representation of the time
of day
as a hexadecimal
number
in the interval
[0,1).
The day is divided in 1016 (sixteen) hexadecimal hours, each hour in 10016 (two hundred and fifty-six) hexadecimal minutes and each minute in 1016 (sixteen) hexadecimal seconds.
This time format was first proposed by the Swedish-American engineer John W. Nystrom
in 1863. In 1997, the American Mark Vincent Rogers of Intuitor
, unaware of Nystrom's system, proposed a similar system of hexadecimal time and implemented it in JavaScript
as the Hexclock.
A day is unity, or 1, and any fraction thereof can be shown with digits to the right of the hexadecimal separator
.
So the day begins at midnight with .0000 and one hexadecimal second after midnight is .0001.
Noon is .8000 (one half), one hexadecimal second before was .7FFF and one hexadecimal second before next midnight will be .FFFF.
Intuitor-hextime may also be formatted with an underscore separating hexadecimal hours, minutes and seconds. For example:
01:30:00 = 1_00_0 = .1000 ( 1.5÷24 = 1÷16 = 0.1 )
12:00:00 = 8_00_0 = .8000 ( 12÷24 = 8÷16 = 0.8 )
22:30:00 = F_00_0 = .F000 ( 22.5÷24 = 15÷16 = 0.F )
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
of day
Day
A day is a unit of time, commonly defined as an interval equal to 24 hours. It also can mean that portion of the full day during which a location is illuminated by the light of the sun...
as a hexadecimal
Hexadecimal
In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal is a positional numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0–9 to represent values zero to nine, and A, B, C, D, E, F to represent values ten to fifteen...
number
Real number
In mathematics, a real number is a value that represents a quantity along a continuum, such as -5 , 4/3 , 8.6 , √2 and π...
in the interval
Interval (mathematics)
In mathematics, a interval is a set of real numbers with the property that any number that lies between two numbers in the set is also included in the set. For example, the set of all numbers satisfying is an interval which contains and , as well as all numbers between them...
[0,1).
The day is divided in 1016 (sixteen) hexadecimal hours, each hour in 10016 (two hundred and fifty-six) hexadecimal minutes and each minute in 1016 (sixteen) hexadecimal seconds.
This time format was first proposed by the Swedish-American engineer John W. Nystrom
John W. Nystrom
John W. Nystrom was a Swedish-American civil engineer, inventor and author who lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Inventions and Patents:...
in 1863. In 1997, the American Mark Vincent Rogers of Intuitor
Intuitor
Intuitor is a website promoting creative learning as both a method of enlightenment and a cultural theme in its own right. Created in 1996, two of its earliest features were instructions for the founder's own four-handed chess variant Forchess and an essay entitled Why Now Is the Most Exciting...
, unaware of Nystrom's system, proposed a similar system of hexadecimal time and implemented it in JavaScript
JavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
as the Hexclock.
A day is unity, or 1, and any fraction thereof can be shown with digits to the right of the hexadecimal separator
Decimal separator
Different symbols have been and are used for the decimal mark. The choice of symbol for the decimal mark affects the choice of symbol for the thousands separator used in digit grouping. Consequently the latter is treated in this article as well....
.
So the day begins at midnight with .0000 and one hexadecimal second after midnight is .0001.
Noon is .8000 (one half), one hexadecimal second before was .7FFF and one hexadecimal second before next midnight will be .FFFF.
Intuitor-hextime may also be formatted with an underscore separating hexadecimal hours, minutes and seconds. For example:
01:30:00 = 1_00_0 = .1000 ( 1.5÷24 = 1÷16 = 0.1 )
12:00:00 = 8_00_0 = .8000 ( 12÷24 = 8÷16 = 0.8 )
22:30:00 = F_00_0 = .F000 ( 22.5÷24 = 15÷16 = 0.F )
| 1 day | = | 1 | 0 | , | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | hexsec | = | 6 | 5 | , | 5 | 3 | 6 | hexsec | = | 24 h | ||||||||
| 1 hexadecimal hour | = | 1 | , | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | hexsec | = | 4 | , | 0 | 9 | 6 | hexsec | = | 1 h 30 min | ||||||||||
| 1 hexadecimal maxime | = | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | hexsec | = | 2 | 5 | 6 | hexsec | = | 5 min 37.5 sec | ||||||||||||||
| 1 hexadecimal minute | = | 1 | 0 | 16 | hexsec | = | 1 | 6 | hexsec | ≈ | 21.09 sec | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 hexadecimal second | = | 1 | 16 | hexsec | = | 1 | hexsec | ≈ | 1.32 sec | ||||||||||||||||||
External links
- Hexadecimal Time Applet - with digital and analogue representations.
- Hexclock - local time as a hexadecimal number
- True Binary Time - local time as a binary number
- hexadecimal-time.com - Florence Mean Time
- Analogue hexadecimal clock - Florence Mean Time
- Geektime.org - different approach, based on "hex-seconds"