Time is money. Time is of the essence. Time is, in short, important. Knowing how to tell the time is especially important as you grow up and become a busy person. This article is for anyone who wants to know how to tell the time. Read on for some helpful tips.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Basic Techniques
Step 1. Find an analog clock and watch it
On this watch, you will notice a lot of numbers and three hands.
- One hand is very thin and moves very fast. It is called the second hand. Each time it moves, a second has passed.
- Another hand is thicker and is as long as the second hand. It is called the minute hand. Each time it moves, a minute has passed. After she moved 60 times to complete the loop, an hour passed.
- The last hand is as thick as the minute hand but is shorter. It is called the hour hand. Each time it moves, an hour has passed. After it moved 24 times, completing a full circle, a day passed.
Step 2. You need to know the relationship between seconds, minutes and hours
Seconds, minutes and hours all measure the same thing: time. They are not the same thing, but they measure the same thing.
- 60 seconds equals 1 minute. 60 seconds, or 1 minute, is the time it takes for the second hand to move from number 12 and complete the round back to number 12 again.
- 60 minutes equals 1 hour. 60 minutes, or 1 hour, is the time it takes for the minute hand to move from number 12 and complete the round back to number 12 again.
- 24 hours equals 1 day. 24 hours, or 1 day, is the time it takes for the hour hand to move from number 12 and complete the round back to number 12 again.
Step 3. Look at the numbers on the clock
You will notice that there are many numbers written along the edge of the clock. They are written in ascending order, which means they increase as we move along the edge of the clock. The numbers range from 1 to 12.
Step 4. You must know that each hand of the clock always moves in a circular direction in the same direction
We call this direction “clockwise.” It follows the order of the numbers, it is as if the clock is counting from 1 to 12. The hands of the clock always follow this direction when working properly.
Method 2 of 4: Say the Hour
Step 1. Look at the number indicated by the hour hand (the thick and short one)
This will tell you the time of day. The hour hand always points to one of the large numbers on the watch.
Step 2. Be aware that the hour hand often points to a dot between two numbers
When it indicates a period between two numbers, the time of day is always the smaller number.
So, if the hour hand is pointing between 5 and 6, it is 5 and something, because 5 is the smallest number
Step 3. You need to know that if the hour hand points directly to a large number, then it is exactly that hour on the dot
For example, if the short, thick hand points directly to the number 9, then it is exactly 9 o'clock.
Step 4. As the hour hand approaches a large number, the minute hand approaches the number 12
When the minute hand points to 12, the next hour begins.
Method 3 of 4: Say the Minutes
Step 1. Look at the number indicated by the minute hand (the thick and long hand)
This will tell you the minutes of the day. Note the small dashes between the large numbers. These represent the minutes. Each large number also represents a minute, just as it represents an hour. You can tell how many minutes it is by counting each dash as a minute, starting with the number 12.
Step 2. Use multiples of five
When the minute hand points to a large number, use multiples of 5 to calculate how many minutes it is.
For example, if the minute hand points directly to 3, multiply 3 by 5, which is 15. "15" is the number of minutes
Step 3. Use multiples of 5 for minutes, even with dashes between large numbers
When the minute hand points to a point between two large numbers, find the nearest large number that the hand has "passed" and multiply that number by 5. Then add that result to the number of dashes in between. There are four dashes between each large number.
For example, if the minute hand points to a dot exactly in the center between 2 and 3, go to 2. Multiply 2 by 5, which is 10. Then count the number of dashes between the 2 and the dot. indicated by the hand: if there are 2, the number of minutes will be 12
Step 4. You need to know where the minute hand is when the hour hand is pointing exactly to a number
When the hour hand points exactly to a large number, the minute hand will always point to 12.
It happens because it is the moment when the time changes, so the minute hand starts the round again from the beginning. If the hour hand points directly to 5 and the minute hand points directly to 12, it means that it is exactly 5 o'clock
Method 4 of 4: Putting It All Together
Step 1. Look at where the hour hand is in this example
The hour hand points directly to the number 6, it means it is exactly 6 o'clock. If the hour hand is pointing exactly to 6, it means that the minute hand should point directly to 12.
Step 2. Look where the minute hand is in this example
The minute hand is two dashes after 9. So how do we know how many minutes there are in this time?
First, we multiply 9 by 5 and we get 45. Then we add 2 more dashes to 45 and we get 47. We have 47 minutes
Step 3. Look at where the hour and minute hands are in this example
The hour hand is between 11 and 12, while the minute hand is 4 dashes after 3. How do we know what time it is?
First, let's find the time of day. Since the hour hand points to a point between 11 and 12, we choose the smaller number. It means it's 11 and something. Now let's look for the minutes. We need to multiply 3 by 5. The result is 15. Now we need to add the 4 dashes to 15, and we get 19. There are 19 minutes and the time is 11. That means it's 11:19
Advice
- If you have a digital watch it's even easier!
- Some watches also have a hand that marks every second and looks like a minute hand. This one also moves 60 times to complete the lap, but the difference is in the speed at which it moves.
