Time

Telling the Time – Quarter Past and Quarter To

To find quarters of the face of the clock, we divide the face of the clock into 4 equal parts.

The whole face of the clock is divided into 60 minutes. One quarter is obtained by dividing 60 minutes into 4 equal parts.

60 ÷ 4 = 15 minutes

Therefore, each quarter is equal to 15 minutes. In a half an hour, the minutes hand moves half of the clock which means two quarter of the clock (15 + 15 = 30 minutes or one half or half past).

In quarter past, the minute hand moves 1 quarter of the face of the clock i.e. 15 minutes and points to number 3 on the clock. The hour hand moves little away from the number.

Illustration1:

The hour hand is between 12 and 1 and closer to 12. The minute hand is at 3. The time is 12 hours 15 minutes or quarter past 12.

In quarter to, the minute hand moves 3 quarter of the face of the clock i.e. 15 + 15 + 15 = 45 minutes and points to number 9 on the clock. The hour hand moves closer to the number but not exactly at the number.

Illustration 2:

The hour hand is between 12 and 1 and closer to 1. The minute hand is at 9. The time is 12 hours 45 minutes or 12:45 or quarter to 1.