Raine was trying to reset her wrist-watch one afternoon, after it had stopped running the day before. Even though she didn’t know what the real time was, her father had given her a clue. “The right time is calculated by adding 1/4 of the time since noon today to 1/2 of the time till midnight tonight.”
When her father told her this clue, she thanked him and set her watch correctly. What time was it?
Answer
4:48 pm.
The time is divided up, so x = the time in hours.
x = From noon till now
(12-x) = Time till midnight
Therefore, putting the clue into what we know, we get the equation:
x = 1/4 x + 1/2 (12-x)
Expand:
x = 1/4 x + 6—1/2 x
5/4 x = 6
x =24/5 = 4.8 hours or 4 hours 48 minutes.
Therefore, the time is 4:48 pm.
