MAT CLOCK Bittu Mishra

Class X 9593751369

 Introduction
A Clock is a circular device provided with three hands viz. an hour hand, minute and second hand. The
study of the clock is known as “horology
horology”.

Basic structure of a clock with three hands

 Structure of a Clock
A clock is composed of 360 degrees
grees and divided into 12 equal divisions. The angle between the
consecutive divisions is obtained by dividing the total angle of clock 360° by the number of divisions
i.e. 12.

Twelve equal divisions of a clock

𝟑𝟔𝟎°
The angle between any two consecutive divi
divisions = = 𝟑𝟎°
𝟏𝟐
MAT CLOCK Bittu Mishra
Class X 9593751369
 Angle divisions of a clock
A close observation of a clock reveals that an angular space between any two consecutive divisions has
further five more divisions. The area between the two divisions corresponds to a value of 5 minutes.
m
Hence, dividing the 30° by five will result in the angular value of a minute.
𝟑𝟎°
Angular value of a minute = = 𝟔 𝟔°
𝟓

Angular values of minutes

 Angle equivalence of a minute

The table given below demonstrates the angular values of the first ten minutes:
Minute(s) Angular values

1 6°

2 12°

3 18°

4 24°

5 30°

6 36°

7 42°

8 48°

9 54°

10 60°
MAT CLOCK Bittu Mishra
Class X 9593751369
 Speed of the hands
A clock has three hooks and all three move at different rates. The speed of moving object depends on
the distance travelled and the time taken to cover a specific range.
The speed is calculated by:
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 =
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏

The speed of a minute hand

A minute hand travels 360° in one hour. i.e. it travels through all the 12 divisions around the clock every
hour. (1 hour = 60 minutes)
°
Speed of a minute hand = 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠
𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 = 𝟔° 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆

The speed of an hour hand

An hour hand travels 30° in an hour. i.e. it covers a distance of 5 minutes (the gap between consecutive
divisions) in 60 minutes.
°
Speed of an hour hand =
𝟏
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 = ° 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆.
𝟐

 Comparison of Speed of hands

𝟏
The difference in the speed or Relative Speed = 𝟔° − ° = 5.5° per minute
𝟐
Comparing the speed of the minute hand and an h hour
our hand, one can conclude that the minute hand is
always faster than the hour hand by 5.5
5.5° or an hour hand is always slower than the minute hand by 5.5°
5.5

Note: The evaluation of the speed of second hands is not necessary as it travels a corresponding
distance of 1 second in a second.

 Frequency of coincidence and collision of hands of a clock:

As we know the hands of clock moves at different speeds, they coincide and collide and also make
different angle formations among themselves at various times in a da
day.
Example: How many times in a day do the minute and hour hands of a clock coincide (Angle between
them is zero) with each other?

A first collision of the hands in a clock at midnight

MAT CLOCK Bittu Mishra
Class X 9593751369
 Logical explanation:
A day starts at midnight, and hence the first-ever coinciding of hands happen at midnight. Now
observing the clock, the next coincidence will occur at approximately 1’ o’clock and 5 minutes. Thus,
one can conclude that every hour, there is one coincidence of hands. Therefore, the answer should be
24 times for 24 hours. But it is not the correct answer and right logic.
Now observe the time between 11 to 12, either it can either be A.M. or P.M., the hands are not
coinciding between 11 o’ clock and 12 o’ clock. The coinciding of hands at 12 o’ clock is the coincidence
between 12 and 1 and 11 and 12. Hence, in 12 hours, there will only be 11 coincidence, extending the
logic for 24 hours of the day, there will be 22 coincidences.
If 12:0:0 A.M is the first coincidence of the hands in a day then the next collision will be at 1 o’clock 5
minutes, but the evaluation of seconds is difficult, but not impossible.

 Logical calculation: We know in 12 hours there will be 11 coincidences. Therefore, one collision
will happen at:
Frequency of one collision = hours
∗
Frequency of one collision = 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 = 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 = 65 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠
The value 65 indicates that the hands of a clock coincide after every 65 minutes of a minute. i.e. if
12:0:0 is the first collision, then the exact time of the next collision will be obtained by adding 65 to 12
o’clock.

The below table denotes the time at which both the hands of a clock collide:
Frequency of collision Time in mixed fraction Exact time

1st 12:0:0 12:0:0

2nd 1:5: 5/11 1:5:27

3rd 2:10: 10/11 2:10:54

4th 3:16: 4/11 3:16:21

5th 4:21:9/11 4:21:16

6th 5:27: 3/11 5:27:36

7th 6:32: 8/11 6:32:43

8th 7:38: 2/11 7:38:10

9th 8:43: 7/11 8:43:38

10th 9:49: 1/11 9:49:5

11th 10:54:6/11 10:54:32

12th 11:59:11/11 12:0:0

MAT CLOCK Bittu Mishra
Class X 9593751369
Example: How many times in a day do the minute and hour hands of clock form a 180° 180 straight line in a
day?
Solution: The hands of the clock make one 180 180° straight line every hour except between 5’o clock and
6’o clock. A precise observation and analysis of the watch gives the idea that between 5 and 6 the
hands make straight line 180° exactly at 6 o’clock and hence, it cannot be the one which happens
between 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock. Instead it is considered as a straight line formed between 6 and 7
o’clock.
Therefore, the hands of a clock make 180
180° straight lines 11 times in 12 hours and hence generalising it
for 24 hours, the hands make 22 consecutive lines of 180
180° in 24 hours.

Some facts about clocks:

 In 60 min, minute hand gains 55 minutes on hour hand.
 Every hour, both the hands coincide once in 12 hours, they will coincide 11 times. It happens due
to only one such incident between 12 and 1'o clock.
 The hands are in the same straight line when they are coincident or opposite to each other.
 When the two hands ands are at a right angle or 90°, they are 15
15-minute
minute spaces apart. In one hour, they
will form two right angles and in 12 hours there are only 22 right angles. It happens due to right angles
formed by the minute and hour hand at 3’o clock and 9'o clock.
 When en the hands are in opposite directions or 180°, they are 30
30-minute
minute spaces apart.
 If both the hour hand and minute hand move at their normal speeds, then both the hands meet
after 65 minutes.

Finding the time when the angle is known:

When the angle between the hands are not perfect angles like 180180°, 90° or 270°°, the solving of the
questions becomes difficult and time
time-consuming
consuming at the same time. The logic below provides a trick to
address problems involving angles of hands for other than standard aspe
aspects.
𝟐
𝑻 = [𝑯 ∗ 𝟑𝟎 ± 𝑨]
𝟏𝟏
Where:
 T stands for the time at which the angle is formed.
 H stands for an hour, which is running.
 (If the question is for the duration between 4 o’clock and 5 o’clock, it’s the 4 th hour which is running
hence the value of H will be ‘4’.)
 A stands for the angle at which the hands are at present.

The clock is divided into two parts: 1 st and 2nd half as shown above
If the time given in the question lies in the first half, then the positive sign is considered while evaluating
the time
ime else, then the negative sign is used.
MAT CLOCK Bittu Mishra
Class X 9593751369
Example: At what time between 3 and 4 o’clock, the hands makes an angle of 10 degrees?
Solution: Given: H = 3 , A = 10
Since both three and four lies in the first half considered a positive sign.
Calculation: 𝑇 = [𝐻 ∗ 30 ± 𝐴]
2
𝑜𝑟, 𝑇 = [3 ∗ 30 + 10]
11
2
𝑜𝑟, 𝑇 = [90 + 10]
11
2
𝑜𝑟, 𝑇 = [100]
11
200
𝑜𝑟, 𝑇 =
11
2
𝑜𝑟, 𝑇 = 18
11
The answer indicates that the hands of a clock will make an angle of 10 between 3 and 4 o’clock at
exactly 3: 18: (3’ o clock 18 minutes and of minutes = × 60 = 10.9 seconds)

 MIRROR IMAGE OF A CLOCK

 If the time is in between 1 o’ clock to 11 o’ clock then to find the Mirror Image we have to subtract
the given time from 11:60.

 If the time is in between 11 o’ clock to 1 o’ clock then to find the Mirror Image we have to subtract
the given time from 23:60.

Example: The time in the clock is 4:46. What is its mirror image?
Solution: 11: 60 − 4: 46 = 7: 14

Correct Clock v/s Incorrect Clock:

This section involves the comparison of time in the accurate clock with the wrong watch. The wrong time
indicates that a clock is either slow or fast compared to the correct time. The wrong clock can either be
fast or delayed by a few seconds/minutes/ hours or sometimes by a few days and weeks.

 TYPE 1: Too Fast and Too Slow

 If a watch or a clock indicates 8.15, when the correct time , 8 is said to be 15
minutes too fast.
 On the other hand, if it indicates 7.45, when the correct time is 8, it is said t o be 15
minutes too slow.

Example: A clock gains 5 seconds for every 3 minutes. If the clock started working at 7 a.m. in the
morning, then what will be the time in the wrong clock at 4 p.m. on the same day?
Solution: A clock gains 5 seconds for every 3 minutes, then it will gain 50 seconds in 30 minutes, or it
will acquire 100 seconds in 60 minutes. i.e. it will gain 100 seconds in 1 hour. Since the clock was
started at 7 a.m. in the morning and right now the correct time is 4 p.m. the total time the clock has
worked is 9 hours. We know that in 1 hour it gains 100 seconds then in 9 hours it increases 900
seconds. The conversion of 900 seconds to minutes will be 15 minutes. This increase indicates that a
clock is faster by 15 minutes as the clock is gaining. Hence, the time in the watch would be 4:15 p.m.
MAT CLOCK Bittu Mishra
Class X 9593751369
𝟓
 TYPE 2: Hands of a clock coincides after every 𝟔𝟓 of a minutes
𝟏𝟏
Example: If the hands of a clock coincides after every 63 minutes, then how much did it lose or gain in a
day?
Solution: In 63 minutes incorrect clock gains 65 − 63 = 2 = 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠.
∴ In 1 minutes incorrect clock will gain 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠.
×
∴ In 1 day = 24 × 60 minutes incorrect clock will gain × (24 × 60) 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 = 56 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠.
×

×
Shortcut: −𝑥 × 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.

 TYPE 3: Faster and Slower Clock

Example: A watch which gains uniformly, is 2 min slow at 4 o'clock in the morning on Sunday and it is 3
min 24 sec fast at 10 pm on Wednesday. Find when was the clock correct?
Solution:
Time Difference of (2 min + 3 min 24 sec) = 5 min 24 sec in 90 hours (i.e. from 4am Sunday to 10 pm
Wednesday).
= Time difference of 𝑚𝑖𝑛 in 90 hours.
×
∴ Time difference of 1 min in ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠.
× ×
∴ Time difference of 2 min in ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 = 33 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 20 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠.

Therefore the clock will show the correct time at 4am Sunday + 𝟑𝟑 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝟐𝟎 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 = 1:20 pm
on Monday

 Solved examples:
1) An accurate clock shows 7 a.m. Through how many degrees will the hour hand rotate when the clock
shows 1 p.m.?
Solution: We know that angle traced by hour hand in 12 hrs. = 360°
From 7 to 1, there are 6 hours.
Angle traced by the hour hand in 6 hours =6 × = 180°

2) By 20 minutes past 4, the hour hand has turned through how many degrees? If then the clock is 12
p.m.
Solution: At 4 o’clock the hour hand is at 4 and has an angle of 30° × 4 = 120°
An Hour hand travels 1/2° per minute In 20 minutes it will travel 20 × ° = 10°.
Adding both we get 120° + 10° = 130°.

3) At what time between 5.30 and 6 will the hands of a clock be at right angles?
Solution: Given: H = 5 and A = 90, since 5 and 6 lies in the first half, a positive sign is considered.
T = 2/11 [H*30 ± A]
T = 2/11 [5*30 + 90]
T = 2/11 [240]
T=
T = 43 .
MAT CLOCK Bittu Mishra
Class X 9593751369
4) What is the angle between the minute hand and the hour hand of a clock at 5.30?
Solution: At 5 ‘o’clock the hour hand is at 5 and hence has made 30° angle.
From 5 to 5.30 its will travel for 30 minutes with a speed of ½ ° Therefore the total distance travelled will
be 30 minutes* 1/2 = 15°
The full angle made by the hour hand will be 150°+15° = 165°.
The minute hand at 5 o’clock is at 12, and hence the angle made is zero. In 30 minutes, it will travel a
distance of 30 minutes with a speed of 6° per minute. Therefore, the total distance travelled will be 30
minutes*6° = 180 °.
The angle between the minute and hour hand is 180 – 165 = 15

5) How many times in a day, the hands of a clock are straight?

Solution: The hands of clocks make a straight line of 180° about 22 times in 24 hours. Also, the hands
coincide 22 times in 24 hours, the coincidence of the hands also forms a straight line. Hence, the total
straight lines are 22+22 = 44.

6) A house has two wall clocks, one in kitchen and one more in the bedroom. The time displayed on
both the watches is 12.A.M right now. The clock in the bedroom gains five minutes every hour, whereas
the one in the kitchen is slower by five minutes every hour. When will both the watches show the same
time again?
Solution: The faster clock runs 5 minutes faster in 1 hr.
The slower clock runs 5 minutes slower in 1 hr.
Therefore, in 1 hour, the faster clock will trace 5+5=10 min more when compared to the slower clock.

The table given below depicts the time difference between the slower and faster clock:
Correct time Slower clock Faster clock

12:0:0 12:0:0 12:0:0

1:0:0 12:55:0 1:5:0

2:0:0 1:50:0 2:10:0

3:0:0 2:45:0 3:15:0

4:0:0 3:40:0 4:20:0

5:0:0 4:35:0 5:25:0

6:0:0 5:30:0 6:30:0

In 6 hours, the faster clock will trace 10×6=60 minutes (an hour) more when compared to the slower
clock.
In 6×12=72 hours, the faster clock will trace an hour more when compared to the slower clock since the
quicker clock determines 12 hours more than, the slower clock. At this point, both the clocks will show
the same time. i.e., both the clocks will show the same time after exactly 72 hours (or 3 days).