# How much faster does the minute hand on a clock move than the hour hand? **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/21 "2016-07-14T23:33:27Z")
> [@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. How often is the speed of rotary motion measured in terms of linear distance traversed rather than angle swept? I can’t think of any, but perhaps you have some example in mind that compels you to not want to use angular speed. If anyone want to defend their answer of 24, they’re welcome too. The 24-hour clocks around here simply double-mark each hour tick with two numbers (0-12, 1-13, 2-14, etc.). I’ve never seen in real life a clock with 24 hour ticks. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/22 "2016-07-14T23:38:53Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I’ve never seen in real life a clock with 24 hour ticks. We have them at work showing the time in our offices around the world. More decorative than functional, I find them incredibly annoying because I have to look at the numbers to figure out what time they show. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/23 "2016-07-14T23:44:34Z")
> [@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? That is an interesting question, but harder than the simple on I asked. I don’t expect most people to get it correct–I was suggesting a real-life math question everyone should get right. I failed. 😛 22. The minute hand passes the hour 11 times per half day, when the hour hand is exactly at 12, then between 1 and 2, then between 2 and 3, then between 3 and 4, … and finally between 10 and 11. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/24 "2016-07-14T23:49:36Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > That is an interesting question, but harder than the simple on I asked. I don’t expect most people to get it correct–I was suggesting a real-life math question everyone should get right. > > I failed. 😛 > > 22. The minute hand passes the hour 11 times per half day, when the hour hand is exactly at 12, then between 1 and 2, then between 2 and 3, then between 3 and 4, … and finally between 10 and 11. Wouldn’t it be 23? Midnight counts as 1, not 0 ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/25 "2016-07-15T00:47:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Still, the second hand makes only 720 revolutions in 12 hours. Damn, I really am having a bad day ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/26 "2016-07-15T01:34:22Z")
Yeah, I fell into the trap, too. Good one! ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/27 "2016-07-15T10:22:15Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > How often is the speed of rotary motion measured in terms of linear distance traversed rather than angle swept? I can’t think of any, but perhaps you have some example in mind that compels you to not want to use angular speed. It’s the dope; pointless nitpicking is part of the fun. I was tempted to ask about the relative lengths of the hands too, until I saw **Gorsnak** had gotten there first. In any case, the response to your request for an example is your car, where the speed of rotary motion of your wheels is measured to produce a linear measure of distance of travelled for the sake of your speedometer. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/28 "2016-07-15T10:28:54Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Wouldn’t it be 23? Midnight counts as 1, not 0 Here’s another way of thinking of it: During a full day, the hour hand does two complete “laps”, while the minute hand does 24. Thus the minute hand must meet or pass the hour hand 22 times within the day. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/29 "2016-07-15T11:50:55Z")
I hate the poll answers. My answer is the minute hand moves 12 times _ **as fast as** _ the hour hand. I hope that expressions of the form “X times more than Y” never pop up in technical publications. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/30 "2016-07-15T12:15:17Z")
I stand proudly when I say I got it 100% wrong. I hate math, I’m terrible at math, and there are precisely zero real-world applications for this question, so I threw out the answer I figured it would be and was (unsurprisingly) wrong. If the health and well being of my entire family came down to me getting a math problem right then I would wonder just how long it would take for me to get a new family ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/31 "2016-07-15T12:29:10Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Wouldn’t it be 23? Midnight counts as 1, not 0 Well, if you start and finish at midnight, and count both of them, it’s 23. But I think really you should only count one of them. If you start and finish at five past midnight, then the hands will cross 22 times, unambiguously. If you start at midnight, and run for 1000 days, the hands will cross 22001 times if you count both the start and the end. That’s virtually equal to 22 times per day, as near as makes no difference. So I’d say 22 times is the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/32 "2016-07-15T14:07:59Z")
> [@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. Why do you refuse to accept it? [Angular velocity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_velocity) is a well defined and heavily used concept. Sure, there are multiple ways of measuring speed, but refusing to accept angular velocity puts you in Time Cube guy and Terence Howard 1x1=2 territory. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/33 "2016-07-15T14:12:30Z")
How many of you already know, without stopping to do any math or logical consideration (in other words you’ve relied on this knowledge) the time it takes for the hour hand to move from one of the little “minute” tickmarks to the next? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/34 "2016-07-15T14:21:52Z")
Am I the only person who looked at it like “The second hand covers 360 degrees in the time that it takes the hour hand to cover 30 degrees. 30/360 = 1/12, or 12 times faster”? And **Gorsnak** , you’re wrong- if you look at it from the perspective I did, how the hands are delineated doesn’t matter; it’s still a situation where the shorter hand covers a 30 degree sweep in the same amount of time that the longer hand covers a full 360 degree rotation, or 12 times faster. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/35 "2016-07-15T15:04:02Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Well, if you start and finish at midnight, and count both of them, it’s 23. But I think really you should only count one of them. When starting at midnight I think 23 or 24 could be considered the correct answer, depending on how one defines “pass”. On a 24 hour clock, if we start at 00:00 both of the hands are aligned, pointing straight up. At 00:01 the minute hand has moved beyond the hour hand. Is that a “pass”? In my mind it is, just as a quick runner could be said to have passed their opponent right out of the gate. The minute hand then passes the hour hand 23 additional times - 1:01 through 23:01, inclusive. The time period expires at 24:00, when the hands are once more aligned. Starting with the hands aligned and calling the first movement a “pass” means 24 passes per day. If pass is strictly defined as “moving from behind to ahead” it would be 23. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > If you start and finish at five past midnight, then the hands will cross 22 times, unambiguously. That start time (or any where the hands do not start in alignment) would result in 23 passes. Starting the 24 hours at 00:05 means that the minute hand will not pass the hour hand the first time until 01:06. Twenty-two additional passes will occur - 02: 06 through 23:06, inclusive. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/36 "2016-07-15T15:07:58Z")
My first instinct was “60 times” but knowing how awful at math I am, I knew it was wrong. I don’t understand \*why \*it’s wrong, I just knew it was to obvious to be the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/37 "2016-07-15T15:47:47Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > My first instinct was “60 times” but knowing how awful at math I am, I knew it was wrong. I don’t understand \*why \*it’s wrong, I just knew it was to obvious to be the correct answer. It’s wrong because the minute hand and hour hand use different scales on the circle. The minute hand passes 60 increments in a single revolution. The hour hand passes only 12 increments in a single revolution. If the hour hand used the same scale, it would indeed be a 60x difference, but it would take 2 and a half days for the hour hand to make a full revolution. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/38 "2016-07-15T15:54:38Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > How many of you already know, without stopping to do any math or logical consideration (in other words you’ve relied on this knowledge) the time it takes for the hour hand to move from one of the little “minute” tickmarks to the next? I knew it takes one hour for the hour hand to move between the numbers which covers 5 minutes for the big hand, so it must by 60/5, but I’m bad at math so I worked it out a little more before answering. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/39 "2016-07-15T16:31:47Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I stand proudly when I say I got it 100% wrong. > > I hate math, I’m terrible at math, and there are precisely zero real-world applications for this question, so I threw out the answer I figured it would be and was (unsurprisingly) wrong. > > If the health and well being of my entire family came down to me getting a math problem right then I would wonder just how long it would take for me to get a new family I stand proudly when _I_ say I got it 100% wrong. However, I love math, am good at math, and use math on a daily basis. I’m just an idiot… who answers before she thinks sometimes. It’s a great question, though. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925/40 "2016-07-15T16:55:31Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > When starting at midnight I think 23 or 24 could be considered the correct answer Nope. either 22 or 23, but certainly not 24. > [@](#): > > That start time (or any where the hands do not start in alignment) would result in 23 passes. No, 22. The hands will cross at approximately the following times, give or take a minute 1.05, 2.11, 3.16, 4.22, 5.27, 6.32, 7.38, 8.43, 9.48, 10.54, 12.00 That’s 11 times every 12 hours, or 22 per day. Try it for yourself if you don’t believe me. Get an old watch, wind the hands forward 24 hours, and count how many times the hands cross. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-faster-does-the-minute-hand-on-a-clock-move-than-the-hour-hand/759925.md?page=3)