For this activity, and for everyday life too, you need to know that there are:
60 seconds in 1 minute
60 minutes in 1 hour
This means that there are:
30 seconds in ½ minute
15 seconds in ¼ minute
45 seconds in ¾ minute
30 minutes in ½ hour
15 minutes in ¼ hour
45 minutes in ¾ hour
Don't worry if you feel like the child above, you don't have to learn it all at once!
Let's see how it works in practice.
Example 1
Jack takes 5¼ minutes to learn his capital cities.
How many seconds is this?
Answer
1 minute = 60 seconds.
½ minute = 30 seconds.
¼ minute = 15 seconds.
5 minutes = 5 × 60 = 300 + ¼ minute = 300 + 15 = 315 seconds.
Example 2
Ahmed starts work at 9.00 a.m. and finishes at 4:30 p.m.
For how many minutes is he at work?
Answer
From 9.00 a.m. to 4 .00 p.m. is 7 hours.
30 minutes is half an hour.
So Ahmed is at work for 7½ hours.
7 hours = 7 × 60 = 420 + ½ hour = 420 + 30 = 450 minutes.
That looks a bit simpler, doesn't it?
Let's have a go at some questions and remember that you can check back to these examples any time you need to by clicking on the pink button on the right-hand side of the screen.