What a 12 minute timer is good for
- The 12-minute run test from Kenneth Cooper's 1968 study: run as far as you can before the alarm, then note the distance.
- Cookies, when the recipe says 10 to 12 minutes and you like them crisp.
- Twelve intervals of 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off.
- A quick walk around the block between two meetings.
An NBA quarter is 12 minutes of game clock, under Rule 5 of the official NBA rules, so regulation play adds up to 48 minutes.
The Cooper Institute describes the 12-minute run as Dr. Kenneth Cooper's field test of aerobic fitness, first published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1968: cover as much distance as you can in the 12 minutes.
Press Start and the countdown runs for exactly 12 minutes. It shows in the tab title too, so you can work in another tab and still see the time left. When it reaches zero, a gentle alarm plays and the dial flashes until you stop it.
12 minutes in other units
12 minutes equals 720 seconds or 0.2 hours. That is 20% of an hour and 0.833% of a 24-hour day. One hour holds 5 runs of the 12 minute timer; an 8-hour workday holds 40.
| Seconds | 720 |
|---|---|
| Minutes | 12 |
| Hours, as a decimal | 0.2 |
| On the dial | 12:00 |
| Share of an hour | 20% |
| Share of an 8-hour workday | 2.5% |
| Share of a 24-hour day | 0.833% |
| Runs in one hour | 5 |
| Runs in an 8-hour workday | 40 |
12 Minute Timer back to back
Start the 12 minute timer again as soon as it rings and the rounds add up: two runs make 24 minutes, three make 36 minutes. None of these totals has a page of its own here, so type 1 hour 36 minutes into the fields for the long version.
| Runs | Total time |
|---|---|
| 2 × 12 min | 24 minutes |
| 3 × 12 min | 36 minutes |
| 4 × 12 min | 48 minutes |
| 6 × 12 min | 1 hour 12 minutes |
| 8 × 12 min | 1 hour 36 minutes |
Shorter and longer timers
The next shorter timer here is the 10 minute timer, 2 minutes less. One step up is the 15 minute timer, 3 minutes more. Halfway through, the dial reads 06:00, 6 minutes left. Two shorter timers that add up to 12 minutes: the 5 minute timer and the 7 minute timer, or the 6 minute timer twice.
Other timer lengths
- 30 Second Timer
- 45 Second Timer
- 1 Minute Timer
- 90 Second Timer
- 2 Minute Timer
- 3 Minute Timer
- 4 Minute Timer
- 5 Minute Timer
- 6 Minute Timer
- 7 Minute Timer
- 8 Minute Timer
- 10 Minute Timer
- 12 Minute Timer
- 15 Minute Timer
- 20 Minute Timer
- 25 Minute Timer
- 30 Minute Timer
- 40 Minute Timer
- 45 Minute Timer
- 50 Minute Timer
- 1 Hour Timer
- 90 Minute Timer
- 2 Hour Timer
Want to time something without an end point? The stopwatch counts up with lap times. For a date rather than a duration, the countdown timer counts the days and hours to an event.
Sources
- NBA Official Rules: Rule 5, Scoring and Timing
- The Cooper Institute: 50 Years of the Cooper 12-Minute Run
Frequently asked questions
How many seconds are in a 12 minute timer?
720 seconds. The 12 minute timer counts them down from 12:00 and plays an alarm at zero.
How many 12 minute timers fit into an hour?
5. An hour has 3,600 seconds, and 720 goes into it exactly 5 times. In an 8-hour workday, the count is 40.
What is 12 minutes as a decimal of an hour?
0.2 hours. Divide 12 minutes by 60 to get it, the form timesheets in decimal hours ask for. As a share of an 8-hour workday, it is 2.5%.
How long is an NBA quarter?
12 minutes. Rule 5 of the official NBA rules sets 12-minute quarters, which makes 48 minutes of regulation play, and each overtime period is 5 minutes.
Will the 12 minute timer ring if I switch tabs?
Yes. The timer works from the moment it should end, not from ticks, and the alarm is scheduled on the browser's audio clock, which keeps running in background tabs. Keep the sound on and the tab open.
Can I change the 12 minute timer to a different length?
Yes. The hours, minutes and seconds fields and the presets work as usual. This page only starts at 12 minutes; every other length is one tap away, or open one of the timers linked above.