A Tick Question.
Answer 6: 7.5 Degrees.
Did you think the answer was 0? You are not alone!
Most people rush into answering the question and forget that the hour hand moves too; at 3.15, it will actually be a quarter of the way between 3 and 4 (because a quarter of an hour has gone by).
To calculate the answer…
- You know that the entire clock is 360°
- The number of degrees between 3 and 4 will be a 12th of that.
- 360°/ 12 = 30°
- And the hour hand will have traveled one quarter of the way between that 30°
- 30/ 4 = 7.5°
- So if the minute hand is at 3, then the distance between both hands is actually 7.5°
This is exactly why you should never rush into brainteasers!
(It probably didn’t help that I put a picture of a clock, telling completely the wrong time, below the question did it?!)
Itching to know another brainteaser answer? Return to the original post here.