A clock's minute hand is pointing straight up at the 12, and the hour hand is pointing at 4. A student says the clock shows '12 o'clock' because the minute hand is on 12. What is the correct time?
A12 o'clock — the minute hand is always the most important hand to read
B4 o'clock — when the minute hand is at 12, you read the hour from the short (hour) hand
C4:12 — you read both hands and put them together
D16 o'clock — you add the two numbers the hands point to
The minute hand pointing to 12 is a signal that the clock is showing an exact hour — it does not mean the time is 12 o'clock. Once you confirm the minute hand is at 12, you ignore it and look at the short (hour) hand to find the hour. The hour hand at 4 means the time is 4 o'clock. Option 0 is the classic confusion: students sometimes read the minute hand's number as the hour.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
Which hand on a clock is called the hour hand, and what should you look for before reading it?
AThe long hand; look at it whenever you want to know the time
BThe short hand; first confirm that the long (minute) hand is pointing straight up at the 12
CThe long hand; it moves more slowly so it shows the hour
DThe short hand; it always points to 12 when it is time for a new hour
The short hand is the hour hand — it moves slowly around the clock face, spending one full hour between each pair of numbers. But you can only read the exact hour from it when the long (minute) hand is straight up at the 12, which signals that a complete hour has just occurred. If the minute hand is anywhere else, the clock is showing something between hours.
Question 3 True / False
At 7 o'clock, the short hand on a clock points to 12.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
At 7 o'clock, the short (hour) hand points to 7, and the long (minute) hand points to 12. The short hand always points to the current hour. The number 12 on the clock is where the minute hand rests when it is exactly an hour — it is not where the hour hand sits unless the time is 12 o'clock.
Question 4 True / False
When the minute hand points straight up at the 12, the clock is showing an exact hour — not a half hour or a different number of minutes.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
Yes — the minute hand at 12 is the signal that exactly one full hour has passed since the last hour began. The time is an exact hour, and you read which hour by looking at the short (hour) hand. If the minute hand were at any other position, the clock would be showing minutes in between hours.
Question 5 Short Answer
What two things must you check to correctly read a clock that shows an exact hour?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: First, check that the long (minute) hand is pointing straight up at the 12. Then look at the short (hour) hand and read the number it points to — that number is the hour. Say the number followed by 'o'clock.'
The two-step process is: (1) confirm the minute hand is at 12, and (2) read the hour from the short hand. If the minute hand is not at 12, the clock is not showing an exact hour and the method you have learned does not yet apply.