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9.04 Read time from a clock

Lesson

Are you ready?

Can you draw a clock face?

Idea summary

To draw a clock face:

  • Start with a circle.

  • Put the hours from 1 to 12, so that the 12 is up the top and the 6 is down the bottom.

  • Draw the minute hand and the hour hand.

Hour and minute hands

When we read the time from a clock, called analogue time, it doesn't look like digital time. Once we learn how a clock works, we can see how the time can be shown two different ways, like these two clocks:

An analogue and digital clock showing the time ten past 3. Ask your teacher for more information.

They both show ten past three.

Let's see how each hand on our clock works, and work out the time, then see the digital time.

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Examples

Example 1

What time is shown on this clock?

A clock where the hour hand points just passed 7 and the minute hand points at 5.
Worked Solution
Create a strategy

For the hours, enter the number that the hour hand has just passed. For the minutes, multiply what the minute hand is pointing at by 5.

Apply the idea

The hour hand has just passed 7.

The minute hand is pointing at 5, so, 5\times5=25.

The time shown is 7\text{:}25.

Idea summary

The small hand on the clock points to the hour of the day and the long hand points to the minutes within that hour.

Outcomes

VCMMG141

Tell time to the minute and investigate the relationship between units of time

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