Convert time to a float

time_to_float.rb

# If you come across the need to store time as a float in ruby (I won’t judge you), 
# you can use this bit of code. It assumes that each subpart of the time string is 
# 60 parts of the previous part. This works for hours, minutes and seconds, 
# regardless of how it is entered, and will always use the first "part" as the base 
# measurement, i.e. 12:30 minutes becomes 12.5 minutes

j = 0

timer = 0

"12:40:30".split(':').each do |y|

  timer += y.to_f / (60**j); j += 1;

end

# In this example, the numbers 12, 0.66, and 0.008 are summed to give 12.6724 hours.

ruby have method http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.0.0/Enumerable.html#method-i-each_with_index
and you can use it like this: "12:40:30".split(':').each_with_index do |y, j|