Angles In Time
Geometry
Level
2
For a normal functioning analog clock, if the time displays 6.30 PM, what is the measure of the angle between the hour and the minute hand? Give your answer in degrees.
The answer is 15.
This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try
refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and,
finally, (c)
loading the
non-javascript version of this page
. We're sorry about the hassle.
1 solution
The hour hand will be between the 6 and the 7. The minute hand will be on the 30. One way to solve this problem is; the angle difference between the six and the nine is 90 degrees. So that means, each number is 30 degrees apart from the other number. Now, if since the hour hand will be in the middle of the 6 and the 7, you would just divide 30 with 2, resulting in the answer, 15 degrees( after all, the minute hand was at six).
Another way to solve this is; one full revolution of a min or hr hand is 360 degrees. There are sixty minutes in an hour. So, divide 360 by 60, resulting in 6. So each minute, you move, you are moving 6 degrees. Now, the hour hand will be in the middle of the 6 and 7, which is 2 1/2 minutes. So 6 times 2 1/2 is the answer, 15 degrees.