A clock shows the minute hand pointing straight down at the 6, and the hour hand is between the 4 and the 5. What time does the clock show?
A5:30, because the hour hand is closer to the 5
B4:30, because the hour hand has just passed the 4
C4:00, because the hour hand hasn't reached the 5 yet
D6:30, because the minute hand points to the 6
At half-past times, the hour hand is always between two numbers — it has left the previous hour and is moving toward the next. You read the hour from the number the hand just passed, not the one it's approaching. Since the hand is between 4 and 5 and has passed 4, the hour is 4. The minute hand at 6 confirms it's 30 minutes past, so the time is 4:30. Choosing 5:30 is the classic error — reading the number the hand is moving toward rather than the one it already passed.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
Which statement correctly describes where the hour hand is at 9:30?
APointing directly at the 9
BPointing directly at the 10
CHalfway between the 9 and the 10
DPointing at the 6, matching the minute hand
The hour hand moves continuously around the clock, not just at each hour. In 30 minutes — half an hour — it travels halfway to the next number. At 9:00, it points at the 9. By 9:30 (half an hour later), it has moved exactly halfway between the 9 and the 10. It won't point directly at the 10 until 10:00. The hour hand is never stationary; it's always somewhere between two numbers unless it's exactly on the hour.
Question 3 True / False
When the minute hand points to the 6, exactly 30 minutes have passed since the last full hour.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
The minute hand takes 60 minutes to travel all the way around the clock. The 6 is at the exact halfway point of that journey — the bottom of the circle. Reaching the 6 means exactly half of 60 minutes have passed, which is 30 minutes. This is why 'half past' is another way of saying ':30' — half of an hour (60 ÷ 2 = 30) has elapsed.
Question 4 True / False
At 3:30, the hour hand points directly at the 3.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
At 3:00, the hour hand points directly at the 3. But by 3:30, half an hour has passed — and the hour hand has moved halfway toward the 4. At any half-past time, the hour hand is always between two numbers, never pointing directly at one. This is one of the trickiest parts of reading half-hour times: the hour hand's position must be interpreted as 'just passed the ___' rather than 'pointing at the ___'.
Question 5 Short Answer
When telling time at the half hour, how do you know which hour to say? What does the hour hand's position tell you?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: At the half hour, the hour hand is between two numbers — it has moved halfway from the current hour toward the next. You read the hour from the number the hand has already passed (the lower number), not the number it's moving toward. The rule is: read the hour the hand just left, not the one it hasn't reached yet.
This is the most common error with half-hour times. Because the hand is closer to the upcoming hour by the time it reaches the midpoint, students are tempted to read the higher number. But time is read from what has already happened — how many whole hours have passed — not what's coming next. At 7:30, the hour hand is past 7 but hasn't reached 8, so the hour is 7.