Telling Time on the Clock Trivia Quiz

Answer: 3:00

You can always tell when a time is on the hour by the longer hand, the minute hand. When this hand points to the top of the clock (the 12) it implies that you're starting a new hour. This shows on a digital clock as :00 (eg. 3:00).

The smaller hand, in this case, points to the three. As such, you can determine that it is three o'clock or 3:00.

Answer: 6:00

If it was just three o'clock and it is now six o'clock, that means that the minute hand (the longer one) has gone around the clock face three times, once for each hour. Now that it's at the top again, you know it's directly on the hour.

Since the smaller hand, the hour hand, is on the six, it must be six o'clock (6:00).

Answer: Midnight

When both the hour hand and minute hand are pointing straight up to the 12, it must be twelve o'clock. Without knowing whether it's the AM or PM it could mean you're either looking at the clock at noon (in the PM) or midnight (in the AM). You could also take a look outside; if it's sunny you're likely looking at noontime.

Answer: Quarter past twelve

Now we're moving on to the minute hand. Since the hour hand is pointing at the twelve it must be somewhere between twelve and one o'clock. The important thing to look at is the minute hand. Every time the minute hand reaches a number on the clock, you add five minutes to the time.

In other words, when the minute hand is on the 1, the time is five minutes past the hour; at the 2 it's ten minutes past the hour. In the case of this clock, it's 12:15 because the minute hand is on the three. Since fifteen minutes is a quarter of an hour, some people may refer to this as quarter past the hour.

Answer: 6:45

With the hour hand on the 6, it's somewhere after 6:00. This time, we've also moved the minute hand all the way to the 9. Since you need to count the minutes from the top of the clock each time, you'll end up at the 45 minute mark. An easy way to remember the minutes: if the minute hand is on a specific number, multiply it by five to get the minutes. 9 times 5 equals 45.
When the minute hand reaches this point, some people also refer to the time as quarter-to-the-hour, since only fifteen minutes remain.

Answer: Five

Remember: every number around the clock signifies five minutes (for the minute hand).
A circle is three hundred sixty degrees, so every five minutes, the minute hand moves thirty degrees clockwise (to the right).

Answer: Four

Since the minute hand is on the 9 it's forty-five minutes past the hour (or fifteen minutes to the next). With the hour hand at three o'clock, this means it is quarter-to the next hour, four. On a digital clock, this would read as 3:45.

Flipping the clock hands the opposite way would create a completely different time-- with the hour hand on the 9 and the minute hand on the 3, it would be quarter past nine (9:15). The hands would still be horizontal, but their placement on the face means everything.

Answer: Half past six

Time to combine your knowledge of both hands again!
The hour hand is on the six, so the hour digit is 06.
The minute hand is also on the six. Six multiplied by five is thirty, so the minutes digits are :30.

The time is thus 6:30; thirty minutes is half of an hour, so some refer to this as half-past the current hour.

Answer: 2:50

The hour hand is on the 2 and the minute hand is on the 10. Ten, multiplied by five, is fifty, so the time is ten minutes to three (also known as 2:50).

If you were to flip the hands, the time would be 10:10. Another case of the hands meaning everything when you read a clock.

Answer: 2:30

The time depicted on the clock is 11:25, and while 11:00 is the closest time, it's already passed. You would need to wait more than eleven hours to see it on the clock again! Time can't go backwards!

The next time to show up would thus be 2:30. Even though it's a few hours down the line, it's definitely the next of the options to show up.