learnbits.app· Geography

Elapsed time

You learn to read times that are not whole hours or half hours.

Practise thisWhiteboardMake it a quiz

How to work it out

  1. Count up from the start time to the next whole hour.
  2. Then count to the finish time.
  3. Add the two spans together.

A worked example

What time is it? (Small hand just past 5, big hand at 4)

  1. The small hand is just past 5, so it is past 5 o'clock.
  2. The big hand at 4 is 20 minutes.
  3. It is 5:20.
More examples

What time is it? (Small hand between 3 and 4, big hand at 8)

  1. The small hand is between 3 and 4, so it is past 3 o'clock.
  2. The big hand at 8 is 40 minutes.
  3. It is 3:40.

What time is it? (Small hand just before 10, big hand at 9)

  1. The small hand is just before 10, so it is almost 10 o'clock.
  2. The big hand at 9 is 45 minutes.
  3. It is 9:45.

Try it yourself

  1. How many minutes is that?

    From 16:35 to 17:10

  2. How many minutes is that?

    From 8:15 to 9:00

Watch out

  • You read where the hand is instead of what time it is: big hand at 4 is 4 o'clock.

    The big hand at 4 is 20 minutes, not 4 o'clock. Look at the small hand for the hour.

Tips

  • First read where the small hand is (the hour), then read the big hand (the minutes).

Why it works

A time like 7:17 has not reached half past yet. You can read it by first going to the whole hour (7:00) and then adding the minutes (17 more).