Military time uses a 24-hour clock system, which eliminates the need for ‘AM’ and ‘PM’ distinctions. To convert standard time into military time, you simply follow a few basic rules.
For times from midnight (12:00 AM) to just before noon (11:59 AM), the military time format is the same as standard time. For example, 1 AM is 0100, and 11 AM is 1100.
However, when it comes to the afternoon, things change. For times from noon (12:00 PM) onwards, you add 12 to the hour number. Therefore, to convert 5 PM:
- Start with 5 PM.
- Add 12 to the hour: 5 + 12 = 17.
- Since there are no minutes involved in this case, you simply write it as 1700.
So, 5 PM in military time is 1700 hours.