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Telling time (labeled clock)

Learn about how to tell time using an analog clock. It covers identifying the hour and minute hands, understanding the concept of hours and minutes, and reading the clock to determine the time. See multiple examples to demonstrate the process of telling time. Created by Sal Khan.

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Video transcript

We are asked, what time is it? So we first want to look at the hour hand, which is a shorter hand here and see where it is pointing. And it is pointing right at seven. So we've just crossed the seventh hour. So the hour is seven. And then we look at the minute hand, which is the longer hand. And this minute hand is pointing straight up, right at the 12. So this means the 12, when you think of minutes, that's zero minutes past the hour. And then each number represents five more minutes. So this is right at 7:00. Let's check our answer. Let's do a few more of these. Where is the hour hand? So this hour hand, you might say, hey, this looks closer to eight than it is to seven, but the key is to realize that it has passed seven and it hasn't gotten quite to eight yet. So we're still in the seventh hour. So the hour is seven. Notice, these hands go in a clockwise direction. So just past seven hasn't gotten to eight yet. So the hour is seven. And when we want to think about the minutes, remember, we start at the top of the clock, that's zero minutes past the hour. And then we can count by fives all the way to where the minute hand is. So 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45. We're 45 minutes past the hour. So it's 7:45. Let's do a couple more. So where's the hour hand? Well it's between the one and the two, but the key is to realize that it's going clockwise, it's passed the one, and it's about to get to two. So it's still in the first hour. So the hour is still one. And then the minutes, we just have to count from 0 by fives. So 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45. It's 1:45 PM. Let's do one more. So here, once again, hour hand is between 1 and 2. So it's past one, it hasn't gotten to two yet. So we're still in the first hour. And then the minutes, well, we start at 12. That's zero minutes past the hour. 0, 5, 10, 15. So it is 1:15. Let's do even one more. So this one the hour hand is exactly at two. And the minute hand is exactly at 12. So that means we're zero minutes past the hour. So it's zero minutes past the hour.