Logic Puzzle - Clock Confusion
By AndriaToh
@AndriaToh (1268)
Malaysia
September 16, 2007 2:48am CST
Here is another one:
It was the middle of the winter in Scandinavia, and the poor boy, sick with a cold, was lying in bed. He woke up in the night, but he knew that the night lasted from 3.00 P.M. to 9.00 A.M. at that time of the year. The boy wearily glanced at his clock and, thinking it said 4:42, buried his head back in the pillow. But, as he fell asleep he realized he hadn't distinguished the hour hand from the minute hand. If it wasn't 4:42 in the morning, what other time (or times) could it have been?
(For more logic puzzles, math trivia, math help etc. have a look at http://www.onlinemathlearning.com )
4 responses
@AndriaToh (1268)
• Malaysia
17 Sep 07
When no distinction is made between the hour and minute hands, the clock would look the same at 8:23 A.M., 4:42 P.M. and 8:23 P.M.
@AndriaToh (1268)
• Malaysia
16 Sep 07
Thanks for your response. I would release the answer tomorrow, just in case there are others who might want to try.
1 person likes this
@AndriaToh (1268)
• Malaysia
17 Sep 07
When no distinction is made between the hour hand and the minute hands. the clock would look the same at 8:23 A.M., 4:42 P.M. and 8:23 P.M.
Thanks for your participation.
@anyhow2004bc (26)
• India
17 Sep 07
I don't get it.
If he didn't distinguish between the hour hand and the minute hand then they would be because they were on top of each other.
That would mean both 4:42 and 8:23 count out of it.
@anyhow2004bc (26)
• India
16 Sep 07
There are many possibilities of the clock's hands to be coincident, once every hour of the night.
But if he got 4:42 as the time then it could be 4:21am/pm or 10:54pm ( if the clock was seen upside down)
There are also possibilties of mirroring etc but these are just extrapolations.
In no case would 4:42 be having coinciding hands of the hour and the minute.
