August 2013
Problem of the Month
Sleepless in Fort Collins
One night I woke up and noticed that my clock read 1:59. I couldn't get back to sleep and the next time I looked at the clock,
it read 3:15. How much time had elapsed?
Please send your answer as a range of times in the following format: H:MM:SS - H:MM:SS. Please note that my clock only displays
hours and minutes, not seconds, so 3:15 could have been anywhere from 3:15:00 to 3:15:59.
Solution to the Problem:
The elapsed time could have been anywhere from 1:15:01 to 1:16:59.
When my clock read 1:59, it could have been anywhere between 1:59:00 to 1:59:59.
Likewise, when the clock read 3:15, it could have been anywhere from 3:15:00 to 3:15:59. The
shortest elapsed time would be from 1:59:59 to 3:15:00, and the longest elapsed time would have been
from 1:59:00 to 3:15:59.