Six Minutes Past Eight
Weekly Problem 45 - 2007
What is the obtuse angle between the hands of a clock at 6 minutes past 8 o'clock?
What is the obtuse angle between the hands of a clock at 6 minutes past 8 o'clock?
Age
11 to 14
Challenge level
Problem
What is the obtuse angle between the hands of a clock at 6 minutes past 8 o'clock?
If you liked this problem, here is an NRICH task which challenges you to use similar mathematical ideas.
Student Solutions
At 8 o'clock, the obtuse angle between the hands of the clock is 120 °. In the following six minutes, the minute hand turns through an angle of 36 ° whilst the hour hand turns through an angle of 3 ° in the same direction (clockwise!). So the obtuse angle between the hands increases by 33 °, to 153 °.