Quantitative Aptitude · Reasoning

Time and Clocks

562 Questions

Time and clocks problems evaluate quantitative aptitude by testing concepts on clock gains, losses, and relative speeds of hands. Questions also cover global time zones and standard time calculations. These logical reasoning topics frequently appear in SSC and banking exams.

Clock gain or lossTime zonesAngle between handsStandard time calculationPrecise time measurement

Time and Clocks Questions

Multiple choice

Ordinates of a 1-hour unit hydrograph at 1 hour intervals, starting from time t = 0, are 0, 2, 6, 4, 2, 1 and 0 m3/s.

Ordinate of a 3-hour unit hydrograph for the catchment at t = 3 hours is

  1. 2.0 m3/s

  2. 3.0 m3/s

  3. 4.0 m3/s

  4. 5.0 m3/s
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

To convert a 1-hour unit hydrograph (UH) to a 3-hour UH, use the method of superposition. Sum the ordinates of the 1-hour UH shifted by 0, 1, and 2 hours, then divide by 3. At t=3: (Ordinate at t=3 + t=2 + t=1) / 3 = (4 + 6 + 2) / 3 = 12 / 3 = 4.0.

Multiple choice

Consider the following statements :

  1. China spans five time zones but runs on a single national time using the standard meridian of Beijing.
  2. Russia uses eight standard time zones. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

  1. 1 only

  2. 2 only

  3. Both 1 and 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

China spans five geographical time zones but officially uses a single time zone (Beijing Time) for the entire country. Russia currently uses 11 standard time zones, not eight.

Multiple choice

The standard time of the following countries is ahead of or behind Greenwich Mean Time, depending on whether they are East or West of the longitude passing through Greenwich. Put them in decreasing order of Greenwich Time.

  1. Cuba
  2. Greece
  3. Iraq
  4. Costa Rica
  5. Japan

  1. 5, 3, 2, 1, 4

  2. 2, 4, 1, 3, 5

  3. 4, 1, 3, 2, 5

  4. 3, 5, 4, 1, 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Greenwich Mean Time is the standard time for time assessment in different countries. The countries which lie east of the Greenwich Line have their standard time ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, while the countries which lie west of Greenwich Line have their standard time behind Greenwich Mean Time. So, the correct sequence of the countries is Japan, Iraq, Greece, Cuba and Costa Rica.

Multiple choice impersonal pronouns pronoun english

Choose the correct option that answers the question:

What is the time?

  1. She is six o'clock.

  2. Mine is six o'clock.

  3. It is six o'clock.

  4. This is six o'clock.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

An impersonal pronoun is commonly used to speak about impersonal things/ideas. ‘It’ is an impersonal pronoun that is used for this purpose. ‘It’ is used while speaking of the time, distance, weather or temperature. Since the given question is about the time, ‘It’ would be the apt pronoun. So the answer should be ‘It is six o’clock’. Thus option C is correct. On the other hand, the pronoun ‘she’ is a personal pronoun that is associated with a particular person. As we are speaking about time and not a person ‘she’ cannot be used. Hence option A is incorrect. Similarly, we cannot use ‘Mine’ because it is a possessive pronoun that is used to talk about things that belong to people. Since the sentence doesn’t speak about belonging, option B is incorrect. While ‘This’ is an example of demonstrative pronoun that points out the object/person that is near someone/something. It is not used to denote time. Thus option D is incorrect. 

Multiple choice

Automatic timing is ____ accurate than manual timing.

  1. just as

  2. more

  3. less

  4. none of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Automatic timing systems are considered more accurate than manual timing because they eliminate human reaction time and ensure consistent delivery of energy for every insertion.

Multiple choice conversion of time time conversion time measurement of time maths

Express $5\dfrac {2}{3} hrs$ in minutes.

  1. $235\ mins$
  2. $320\ mins$
  3. $340\ mins$
  4. $523\ mins$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

$5\dfrac {2}{3} hrs = \dfrac {17}{3}hrs$
$1\ hr = 60\ mins$
$\therefore \dfrac {17}{3} hrs = \dfrac {17}{3} \times 60\ mins = 340\ mins$.

Multiple choice conversion of time time conversion time measurement of time maths

A clock gains 5 minutes every hour.Then the angle traversed by the seconds hand in one minute will be 

  1. $390^0$
  2. $380^0$
  3. $360.5^0$
  4. $360^0$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Gain in 60 min=5min
in 1 min =$\dfrac{5}{60}min=\dfrac{5}{60}\times 60 sec=5 sec$
Angle traversed by second hand=$360^0+\dfrac{5}{60}\times 360^0=390^0$

Multiple choice conversion of time time conversion time measurement of time maths

$3$ hour $12$ minutes is equal to how many seconds?

  1. $10521\ seconds$
  2. $10510\ seconds$
  3. $11520\ seconds$
  4. $10600\ seconds$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

$3$ hr $12$ min $=3\times 60\times 60+12\times 60$

$=3600\times3+720$ s
$=10800+720$ s $=11,520$ s

Multiple choice conversion of time time conversion time measurement of time maths
At what time between  $1.30\mathrm { pm }$  and $2\mathrm { pm }$  will both the hands of a clock be at right angles?
  1. $4 \dfrac { 6 } { 11 }$
  2. $61 \dfrac { 5 } { 11 }$
  3. $\operatorname { Both } ( A ) \& ( B )$

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The angle between $2$ successive numbers in the clock is $\dfrac{360}{12}=30^{\circ}$

The angle between successive dots is $\dfrac{360}{60}=6^{\circ}$
For one rotation of minutes hand hours hand rotates by $30^{\circ}$
$\implies $ For increase in $1$ minute there is increase of $\dfrac{1}{2}^{\circ}$ for hours hand

At $1.50\text{pm}$
Angle Between hands of clock at $90+\dfrac{50}{2}=115$

For every $1$ min there is a decrease of $\dfrac{11}{2}^{\circ}$

For every $x$ min there is a decrease of $25^{\circ}$

$\implies x=\dfrac{25\times 2}{11}=4\dfrac{6}{11}$min

So at $4\dfrac{6}{11}$ pm the hands are perpendicular to each other.