SECOND function

SECOND Function is a useful tool in Excel that allows you to extract the seconds portion from a given time value. It can help you perform time-based calculations and analysis easily.

Syntax

SECOND(serial_number)

Arguments

serial_numberThe time value from which you want to extract the seconds.

How to use

You can use the SECOND function in Excel to extract the seconds from a time value. Here’s how you can use it with some examples:

Example 1: Suppose you have a time value in cell A1, like “12:45:30 AM,” and you want to extract the seconds. You can use the following formula in another cell:

This formula will return 30, which is the seconds portion of the time.

Example 2: If you have a list of time values in column B and want to extract the seconds for each, you can similarly use the SECOND function for the entire column. In cell C1, enter the formula:

Then, you can drag the fill handle (a small square at the bottom-right corner of the cell) down to apply the formula to all the cells in column C. This will extract the seconds for each time value in column B.

Remember that the SECOND function only works with time values, and it ignores any date components that might be part of the cell content. It extracts the seconds as an integer between 0 and 59.

Additional Information

If you need to work with other time components, such as minutes or hours, Excel provides similar functions like MINUTE and HOUR that can help you extract those values. The SECOND function is useful when you specifically need to focus on the seconds of a time value.

Tomasz Decker is an Excel specialist, skilled in data analysis and financial modeling.