What is the meaning of metronome beat

[pianodude]

All,

I always want to know what is the meaning of quarter note = 176.
Does it mean? How to convert to minute?

I saw people can convert the duration of a performance from minute to a metronome beat.

Could somebody explain how the conversion work?

Thanks in advance. 

Ron

[rhapsody in orange]

Hmm.
Quaver note = 176 means that there would be 176 quaver beats in a minute.
Therefore, the duration of a quaver is 1/176 minute. So if you want to know how long the piece is, assuming tempo is constant throughtout, it is then 1/176 multiplied by the number of quaver beats in that piece.
Let's say a piece is x minutes long, and the piece has notes equivalent to y quavers, then the metronomme beat (assuming strict tempo) is quaver note = y/x.
Hope this helps =)