Definition
Quarter hour
A quarter hour is a duration of 15 minutes, which is one of four equal parts of an hour.
Continue from this idea into connected AXIO math.
What it means
Split an hour into four equal time blocks. Each block lasts 15 minutes. “Quarter past” means 15 minutes after an hour, while “quarter to” means 15 minutes before the next hour.
Remember it
Four equal parts of 60 minutes make 15 minutes each.
Example
A break starts at 4:50 and lasts a quarter hour. Ten minutes reaches 5:00 and five more minutes reaches 5:05.
Watch for
Quarter to 6 means 5:45, not 6:15.
Common mix-up
A quarter hour is a duration; quarter past and quarter to describe where a clock time sits around an hour.
Exact meaning
A quarter hour is a time interval of 15 minutes because one hour contains 60 minutes and one quarter of 60 is 15. On an analogue clock, 15 minutes is a quarter turn of the minute hand.