Elapsed Time for 5th Grade: Find Duration and End Times

Elapsed time is the amount of time that passes between a start time and an end time. In Grade 5, students find elapsed time by counting hours and minutes or by subtracting start time from end time. Elapsed time is used when determining how long a movie lasts, how long a school day is, how long a trip takes, or how long homework took.

To find elapsed time, we can count forward from the start time to the end time: first count whole hours, then add any remaining minutes. Alternatively, we can convert both times to minutes from midnight, subtract, and convert back to hours and minutes.

DETAILED EXPLANATION

Strategy: Count from start to end in two parts—whole hours first, then remaining minutes.

Example: Start 2:30 PM, end 4:45 PM. From 2:30 to 4:30 is 2 hours. From 4:30 to 4:45 is 15 minutes. Total: 2 hours 15 minutes.

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Crossing noon or midnight: Add hours carefully. From 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM is 4 hours. From 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM (next day) is 2 hours.

WORKED EXAMPLES WITH STEP BY STEP SOLUTIONS

Example 1

A movie starts at 2:30 PM and ends at 4:45 PM. How long is the movie?

Solutions:

Step 1: From 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM is 2 hours.

Step 2: From 4:30 PM to 4:45 PM is 15 minutes.

Step 3: Total elapsed time: 2 hours + 15 minutes = 2 hours 15 minutes.

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Step 4: The movie is 2 hours 15 minutes long.

Answer: 2 hours 15 minutes

Example 2

School starts at 8:15 AM and ends at 3:30 PM. How long is the school day?

Solutions:

Step 1: From 8:15 AM to 3:15 PM: 8:15 to 9:15 is 1 hour, 9:15 to 10:15 is 2 hours, … up to 3:15 PM. That is 7 hours (8 to 3).

Step 2: From 3:15 PM to 3:30 PM is 15 minutes.

Step 3: Total: 7 hours + 15 minutes = 7 hours 15 minutes.

Answer: 7 hours 15 minutes

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Example 3

Jake started homework at 4:20 PM and finished at 5:45 PM. How long did it take?

Solutions:

Step 1: From 4:20 PM to 5:20 PM is 1 hour.

Step 2: From 5:20 PM to 5:45 PM is 25 minutes.

Step 3: Total: 1 hour + 25 minutes = 1 hour 25 minutes.

Answer: 1 hour 25 minutes

Example 4

A train leaves at 9:40 AM and arrives at 11:15 AM. How long is the trip?

Solutions:

Step 1: From 9:40 AM to 11:40 AM would be 2 hours. But we stop at 11:15 AM, which is 25 minutes before 11:40.

Step 2: 2 hours − 25 minutes = 1 hour 35 minutes.

Alternatively: 9:40 to 10:40 = 1 hour; 10:40 to 11:15 = 35 minutes. Total: 1 hour 35 minutes.

Answer: 1 hour 35 minutes