Drop the whole cycles, jump the whole units, and only count what is left over. When several things share the time, draw each as a bar, then see how the bars meet.
- 1Repeating Patterns5:59
- 2Totals over Cycles5:12
- 3Calendars6:30
- Now playing: 4Elapsed Time5:41
- 5Overlapping Time Periods3:55
- 6Time Spans4:11
Cycles and Time: Elapsed Time

Methods in this video
Tap a time to jump to where the video teaches that method.
- 1
Whole hours first, extra minutes last
When to use it: The question asks how long it is from one time to another, or gives a start (or end) time and a duration and asks when it ends (or starts); the times cross the hour, often noon or midnight, and may be written as 'quarter to' or 'twenty past'.
- Draw a timeline; times on the hour are stepping stones. Going forwards, reach the next hour, jump whole hours, then add the extra minutes.
- Every 60 extra minutes make 1 hour (65 minutes = 1 hour 5 minutes).
- Going backwards, take off whole hours first and the extra minutes last; every jump goes back.
Practise exam-style questions with these methods
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