A clock loses 2 minutes every hour. It is set right at 10 a.m. Later that day it shows 3:48 p.m. What is the correct time?

3:36 p.m.Correct answerYour answer3:50 p.m.Correct answerYour answer3:58 p.m.Correct answerYour answer4:00 p.m.Correct answerYour answer

Show the answer and explanation

CorrectNot quiteAnswer D

Correct answer: D

The clock shows 58 minutes for every 60 true minutes.
Shown since 10 a.m.: 5 h 48 min $= 348$ minutes.
True time passed $= 348 \times \frac{60}{58} = 360$ minutes $= 6$ hours: the correct time is 4:00 p.m.

Worth noting

3:58 p.m. adds 2 minutes for each of the 5 whole hours on the dial. 3:36 p.m. subtracts the loss from a slow clock, which makes it worse.

Ten questions from Calendars and Clocks, at your own pace.

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