# How much faster does the minute hand on a clock move than the hour hand?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 14, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925 "2016-07-14T20:46:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/1 "2016-07-14T20:46:50Z")
Without using a calculator, the internet, or other mechanical assistant, how would you answer the poll question?
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/2 "2016-07-14T20:50:23Z")
I would say:
12 times faster, as the hour hand sweeps out one segment in the same time it takes the minute hand to sweep out 12 segments
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### Author:  [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/3 "2016-07-14T20:52:07Z")
12 times. It takes the hour hand 12 hours to do the circle, the minute hand takes 1 hour.
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### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/4 "2016-07-14T20:54:34Z")
Yeah, it’s obvious to me. I used this as an example of real world math everyone should be able to get right. Others disagreed, saying some people (who are otherwise clever) just don’t know have any mathematical sense.
The posters around here are generally a good proxy for smart people. I’m curious how many genuinely get it wrong.
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### Author:  [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/5 "2016-07-14T20:56:11Z")
3,600
It takes 12 hours for the hour hand to complete a revolution, that’s 3,600 minutes
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/6 "2016-07-14T21:00:34Z")
I did have to do some thinking but I got it right. Nice question, tho 🙂
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### Author:  [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/7 "2016-07-14T21:03:30Z")
Digital clock! Down with hands!
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/8 "2016-07-14T21:06:09Z")
Up with mini-skirts!
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/9 "2016-07-14T21:46:30Z")
I almost fell into the “sixty times” trap, but paused to visualize it first.
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/10 "2016-07-14T21:50:36Z")
This is why God created Public Polls, btw. So we can ceaselessly mock those who provided wrong answers. 😉
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### Author:  [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/11 "2016-07-14T21:56:49Z")
I refuse to accept that “how fast” here means the number of rotations per time unit rather than the distance tracked by the tip of the hand per time unit. The answer is therefore undetermined unless the relative length of the hands is specified - the minute hand moves 12\*(minute hand length/hour hand length) times faster than the hour hand. Also, there are 24-hour analog clocks where the correct answer is 24 rather than 12.
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### Author:  [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/12 "2016-07-14T21:57:05Z")
There is another question that is not so simple to answer or explain. How many times a day does the minute hand pass the hour hand?
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### Author:  [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/13 "2016-07-14T22:08:47Z")
I dislike the expression “times faster” and prefer “times as fast”. In my view, “12 times as fast” = “11 times faster”.
I do not expect to win a prize for this opinion.
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### Author:  [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/14 "2016-07-14T22:34:34Z")
> [@zoid](#):
>
> 3,600
>
> It takes 12 hours for the hour hand to complete a revolution, that’s 3,600 minutes
I’d like you to go back and and read the first part of that sentence aloud to yourself.
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### Author:  [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/15 "2016-07-14T22:40:22Z")
> [@Penfeather](#):
>
> I’d like you to go back and and read the first part of that sentence aloud to yourself.
Are you saying it does not take 12 hours for the hour hand to make a complete revolution?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/16 "2016-07-14T22:50:53Z")
> [@jtur88](#):
>
> There is another question that is not so simple to answer or explain. How many times a day does the minute hand pass the hour hand?
Duh…I fell into the trap.
But to answer your question, assuming you mean day as 24 hours and not diurnal, it’s 24. (Technically the possible special case of 25 times doesn’t quite happen even if you start at the exact second.)
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/17 "2016-07-14T22:54:12Z")
> [@zoid](#):
>
> Are you saying it does not take 12 hours for the hour hand to make a complete revolution?
Yes, the hour hand does take 12 hours to make a complete revolution. But since the minute hand makes 12 revolutions in the time the hour hand makes one, it is impossible for it to be 3600 times faster. The minute hand makes 12 revolutions to the hour hand’s one, so that’s a 12:1 ratio.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/18 "2016-07-14T22:58:28Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#):
>
> I refuse to accept that “how fast” here means the number of rotations per time unit rather than the distance tracked by the tip of the hand per time unit. The answer is therefore undetermined unless the relative length of the hands is specified - the minute hand moves 12\*(minute hand length/hour hand length) times faster than the hour hand. Also, there are 24-hour analog clocks where the correct answer is 24 rather than 12.
I didn’t consider this. Both RPM and MPH are valid measurements of speed so the RPM answers aren’t wrong, but not the only possible answers.
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### Author:  [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/19 "2016-07-14T22:59:51Z")
Ah, I’m thinking of the second hand
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/20 "2016-07-14T23:21:58Z")
> [@zoid](#):
>
> Ah, I’m thinking of the second hand
Still, the second hand makes only 720 revolutions in 12 hours.
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