Functional Skills: Time

Units of Time

As you may know, time has a variety of different units. You will need to be able to change between them.

Here is a list of different units of time and how they are related:

• $60$ seconds $=1$ minute
• $60$ minutes $=1$ hour
  • We can divide $1$ hour like this:
  • $15$ minutes $=frac{1}{4}$ hour
  • $30$ minutes $=frac{1}{2}$ hour
  • $45$ minutes $=frac{3}{4}$ hour
• $24$ hours $=1$ day
• $7$ days $=1$ week
• $365$ days $=1$ year
• $12$ months $=1$ year
• $10$ years $=1$ decade
• $100$ years $=1$ century

$boldsymbol{12}$-hour clock vs $boldsymbol{24}$-hour clock

To go between afternoon times from the $textcolor{purple}{12}$-hour clock to the $textcolor{green}{24}$-hour clock, you need to add $textcolor{orange}{12}$ hours. To go the other way, you subtract $textcolor{orange}{12}$ hours from the $textcolor{green}{24}$-hour clock.

Analogue Clocks

On an analogue clock, the small hand points to the hour while the big hand points to the minute. However, it is not as simple as reading off times in either case.

1. For the big hand, because there are only $12$ numbers on an analogue clock, each number represents $5$ minutes, not $1$ minute. So when the big hand points to $4$, it is $20$ minutes past the hour because $4times5=20$. If the minute hand is between numbers, this represents being between increments of $5$ minutes.

Note: If the big hand points to $12$, this does not mean it is $12times5=60$ minutes past, it means it is on the hour.

2. For the small hand, it will usually be between numbers. If it is between $10$ and $11$, then the hour is $10$ and it gets closer to $11$. Since there are only $12$ numbers, the hour can only go up to $12$, so analogue clocks are not $24$ hour.

Working Out Times

The best way to work out times is to split it into chunks. This comes in two styles:

1. Working out how long something takes.
2. Working out what time it will be once something has happened.

Example: Jack sets off for work at $7.30$am and arrives at $9.05$am. How long does his journey take him?

Split this into chunks. First, to go from $7.30$am to $8.00$am is $30$ minutes. Then to go from $8.00$am to $9.00$am is $1$ hour. Then to go from $9.00$am to $9.05$am is $5$ minutes.

Now, add the hours and the minutes separately.

We have $1$ hour, and we have $30+5=35$ minutes, so our total time is $1$ hour $35$ minutes.

Example: The train from Harrogate to York takes $45$ minutes. If it leaves Harrogate at $18:40$, what time does it arrive into York?

Again, split this into chunks. $18:40$ to $19:00$ is $20$ minutes, so there are $45-20=25$ minutes left.

$25$ minutes after $19:00$ is $19:25$, which is when the train gets into York.

Timetables

Timetables have rows and columns. Rows are horizontal and columns are vertical.

You need to know how to read several different types of timetables.

Bus timetables list in each column the times an individual bus gets to each stop. So to find the bus you need to get to arrive at a certain time you have to:

Step 1: Find the stop you want.

Step 2: Go along that row to find the last one before the certain time.

Step 3: Find the time that bus gets to the stop you want to get on at.

Example: Chloe wants to arrive at Clifton Moor by $10:30$. She will get on the bus at Piccadilly. At what time does she need to be at Piccadilly bus stop?

Follow along the Clifton Moor row to find a time before $10:30$ – in this case it is $textcolor{blue}{10:26}$.

Now, follow this column up to Piccadilly – the stop Chloe is getting on at. This gives a time of $09:39$, which is when the bus she needs to be on leaves Piccadilly.

Hence, she must be at the Piccadilly bus stop by $textcolor{blue}{09:39}$.

Some other types of timetable are much easier to read than bus timetables. To find out when an event takes place, simply look to the row and column headings for the row and column it is in.

Example: Fatima is going to an education conference. She is planning which sessions she wants to attend. She has a networking event running at the same time to the conference that is at $02.00$pm on Saturday. Which session would she not be able to attend?

We need to look at the $02.00$pm row and the Saturday column. Where these intersect is the event that Fatima will not be able to attend. This event is “Key Stage 2: Does the Curriculum Need and Overhaul?”

Calendars

Calendars show dates. Normally, each page of a calendar shows a grid that will represent a month. The days of the week will be listed along the top, then each square will have a number in which corresponds to that day of the month. Each square in a calendar can also contain information relating to that day. Questions on calendars are about being able to interpret this information.

Example: Jurgen has been in Germany since April and wishes to fly back to the United Kingdom in October. He will be flying from Berlin Brandenburg Airport into London Heathrow Airport. The calendar below shows the prices of flights from Brandenburg to Heathrow on each day. Jurgen wishes to fly between $11$th and $15$th October, and he wishes to spend the least money possible on flights. Which day should he choose?

The calendar shows us that no flights are available at all on $11$th October and $14$th October. This leaves Jurgen with $12$th October, where flights cost $£101$, $13$th October, where flights cost $£89$, and $15$th October, where flights cost $£130$. The smallest cost out of these is $£89$ on $13$th October. So Jurgen should travel on $13$th October.