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Reading a clock is a breeze with these tips and tricks!
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Time is money. Time is of the essence. Time is, well, important, and it’s even more important as you grow up—it can help you know when to meet a friend, have dinner, or see a movie. So, how do you do it? In this article, we’ll take you through the process of telling time step-by-step. We’ll start with the basics and then move to how to read the hours and the minutes.
How to Read an Analog Clock
The shorter hand on a circular clock tells the hour, while the longer hand tells the minutes. When the hour hand is between two numbers, the hour is the smaller number. The numbers represent minutes in increments of 5 and determined by where the long hand is pointed.
Steps
Section 2 of 7:
Telling the Hour
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Tell the hour by looking at the hour hand. The small, thick hand of the clock tells you what hour of the day it is. When reading this hand, always look at the large numbers on the clock. [5] X Research source
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Know that the hour hand can be pointed in between two numbers. When the hour hand is pointed between 2 numbers, the hour of the day is always the lower number. [6] X Research source
- So, if the hour hand is pointed between 5 and 6 on the clock, it's 5-something, because 5 is the lower number.
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Know that if the hour hand is pointed directly at a big number, it's exactly that-o'clock. When the hour hand is pointed right at a number, it’s that time exactly. For instance, if the small, thick hand is pointed directly at the number 9, it's 9 o'clock or 9:00. [7] X Research source
- Pro tip: Watch as the hour hand moves slowly closer to a big number. The minute hand gets closer to the number 12. When the minute hand hits 12, the next hour starts.
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Section 3 of 7:
Telling the Minutes
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Look at the number the minute hand is pointing at. The long, thick hand tells us the minute of the day. Notice the little lines in between the big numbers? These represent minutes, and where the minute hand is pointed tells us this. You can tell how many minutes there are by counting each little tick as one minute, starting from the number 12. [8] X Research source
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Count in multiples of 5 as a shortcut. When the minute hand is pointing at a big number on the clock, use multiples of 5 to tell how many minutes there are, as there are 5 ticks or lines between each number.
- For example, if the minute hand points directly at 3, multiply 3 by 5 to get 15. "15" is how many minutes have passed in the current hour.
- Still confused? Think of the clock like a pie and separate it into quarters. If the minute hand is on 6, half of an hour has gone by, meaning 30 minutes. If the minute hand is on 3, a quarter of the hour has gone by, meaning 15 minutes. [9] X Research source
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Count the ticks or lines to find an exact time. If the minute hand is between numbers, take a closer look at the little ticks on the clock. Find the nearest number the hand has passed, multiply that number by 5, and then add the number of ticks in between. There are 4 small ticks in between each big number. [10] X Research source
- For example, if the minute hand is pointed right between the 2 and the 3, multiply 2 by 5, which gives us 10. Then, count out the number of ticks it takes to get from 2 to where the hand is pointing and add this number to 10.
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Check to see if the minute hand is pointed at 12. When the hour hand is pointed exactly at a big number on the clock, the minute hand will always be pointed directly at 12. This is because the hour changed, so the minute hand is starting over again. [11] X Research source
- For instance, if the hour hand is pointed directly at 5 and the minute hand is pointed directly at 12, that means it's 5 o’clock exactly.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionHow many minutes does it take the hour hand to complete a rotation?Community AnswerIt moves from one number to the next in 60 minutes, then multiply that by 12 numbers, and you get 720. So, it takes 720 minutes for a complete rotation, which is 12 hours.
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QuestionHow do you tell the minutes?Community AnswerThere are 60 minutes in an hour. There are 5 tick marks in between each number on the clock. Each one is one minute. If the long minute hand is pointed at the 3, that means it is 15 minutes past the hour. At the 4, it is 20 past the hour and so on. I am sure there are plenty of online videos and worksheets to help you.
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QuestionIf it's 10 minutes till 12 o'clock, how would that look on a clock?Community AnswerThe short hand, or hour hand, would be between the 11 and the 12, while the long hand, or minute hand, would be exactly on the 10.
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Tips
- Some clocks may have a hand that ticks every second that looks kind of like the minute hand and it also passes 60 clicks each time around the clock. The only difference is that it measures seconds, not minutes, and you can tell the difference by how fast it moves.Thanks
- Elementary school teacher Courtney Copriviza recommends teaching kids how to tell time with hands-on activities. Give them real clocks to hold or print-outs of clocks to color in.Thanks
Tips from our Readers
The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.
- A good tip to remember which hand on an analog clock is the longest: the longest hand is the minute hand, and the word "minute" is also longer than the word "hour."
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References
- ↑ https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-2nd-grade-math/x3184e0ec:money-and-time/cc-2nd-time/v/telling-time-exercise-example-1
- ↑ https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/math/elementary_math/telling_time
- ↑ https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/math/elementary_math/telling_time
- ↑ https://www.math-only-math.com/read-a-watch-or-a-clock.html
- ↑ https://youtu.be/HrxZWNu72WI?t=66
- ↑ https://youtu.be/HrxZWNu72WI?t=90
- ↑ https://youtu.be/HrxZWNu72WI?t=85
- ↑ https://youtu.be/5CF27S4od3o?t=127
- ↑ https://www.therecoveringtraditionalist.com/teaching-kids-to-tell-time-analog/
- ↑ https://www.math-only-math.com/read-a-watch-or-a-clock.html
- ↑ https://www.math-only-math.com/read-a-watch-or-a-clock.html
- ↑ https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/math/elementary_math/telling_time
- ↑ https://www.math-only-math.com/read-a-watch-or-a-clock.html
- ↑ http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/qr/d/digitalClock.html
- ↑ https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/analogue-clock
- ↑ https://www.berlitz.com/blog/how-to-tell-time-english
- ↑ https://doodlelearning.com/us/math/skills/measurement/am-pm
- ↑ https://www.military.com/military-life/military-time-the-24-hour-clock.html
About This Article
Article Summary
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If you need to tell time on an analog clock, remember that the short and thick hand tells the hour, but the long and slightly thinner hand tells the minute. That makes the hour hand easy to read because if it points at the 2, it is 2 o’clock; or if it points at the 3, it’s 3 o’clock. However, when the minute hand points at a number, you have to multiply it by 5 to get the minutes. For example, the minute hand points at the 6 when it’s 5:30 because 6 times 5 = 30. To learn how to tell the time when the hour hand is pointing between 2 numbers, read on!
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