Definition
Analogue clock
An analogue clock shows time with hands moving around a dial marked in hours and minutes.
Continue from this idea into connected AXIO math.
What it means
The long minute hand tells how far through the hour you are. The short hour hand tells which hour you are in and moves a little as the minutes pass. At half past 4, the minute hand points to 6 for 30 minutes, and the hour hand has moved halfway from 4 toward 5.
Remember it
Long hand counts minutes; short hand slides through the hour.
Example
At 4:30, the minute hand is 180° clockwise from 12 and points to 6. The hour hand is 135° clockwise from 12, halfway between 4 and 5. Those two positions together represent 4:30.
Watch for
At 4:30, the hour hand is not still on 4; it has moved halfway toward 5. A digital clock shows numerals instead of hand positions.
Common mix-up
The number 6 marks 30 minutes for the minute hand, not the sixth hour in this reading.
Exact meaning
An analogue clock represents time by the angular positions of hands on a circular dial. The minute hand completes one turn each hour, while the shorter hour hand moves continuously one twelfth of a turn and therefore sits between hour marks as the hour passes.