problem solving on elapsed time

20 Elapsed Time Word Problems

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Elapsed time is the amount of time that passes between the beginning and the end of an event. The concept of elapsed time fits nicely in the elementary school curriculum. Beginning in third grade, students should be able to tell and write time to the nearest minute and solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of time. Reinforce these essential skills with the following elapsed time word problems and games.

Elapsed Time Word Problems

These quick and easy elapsed time word problems are perfect for parents and teachers who want to help students practice elapsed time to the nearest minute with simple mental math problems. Answers are listed below.

• Sam and his mom arrive at the doctor’s office at 2:30 p.m. They see the doctor at 3:10 p.m. How long was their wait?
• Dad says dinner will be ready in 35 minutes. It’s 5:30 p.m. now. What time will dinner be ready?
• Becky is meeting her friend at the library at 12:45 p.m. It takes her 25 minutes to get to the library. What time will she need to leave her house to arrive on time?
• Ethan’s birthday party started at 4:30 p.m. The last guest left at 6:32 p.m. How long did Ethan’s party last?
• Kayla put cupcakes in the oven at 3:41 p.m. The directions say that the cupcakes need to bake for 38 minutes. What time will Kayla need to take them out of the oven?
• Dakota arrived at school at 7:59 a.m. He left at 2:33 p.m. How long was Dakota at school?
• Dylan started working on homework at 5:45 p.m. It took him 1 hour and 57 minutes to complete it. What time did Dylan complete his homework?
• Dad arrives home at 4:50 p.m. He left work 40 minutes ago. What time did Dad get off work? 
• Jessica’s family is traveling from Atlanta, Georgia to New York by plane. Their flight leaves at 11:15 a.m. and should take 2 hours and 15 minutes. What time will their plane arrive in New York?
• Jordan got to football practice at 7:05 p.m. Steve showed up 11 minutes later. What time did Steve get to practice?
• Jack ran a marathon in 2 hours and 17 minutes. He crossed the finish line at 10:33 a.m. What time did the race start?
• Marci was babysitting for her cousin. Her cousin was gone for 3 hours and 40 minutes. Marci left at 9:57 p.m. What time did she start babysitting? 
• Caleb and his friends went to see a movie at 7:35 p.m. They left at 10:05 p.m. How long was the movie?
• Francine got to work at 8:10 a.m. She left at 3:45 p.m. How long did Francine work?
• Brandon went to bed at 9:15 p.m. It took him 23 minutes to fall asleep. What time did Brandon fall asleep?
• Kelli had to wait in a long, slow-moving line to purchase a popular new video game that was just released. She got in line at 9:15 a.m. She left with the game at 11:07 a.m. How long did Kelli wait in line?
• Jaydon went to batting practice Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. He left at 11:42 a.m. How long was he at batting practice?
• Ashton got behind on her reading assignment, so she had to read four chapters last night. She started at 8:05 p.m. and finished at 9:15 p.m. How long did it take Ashton to catch up on her assignment?
• Natasha has a dentist appointment at 10:40 a.m. It should last 35 minutes. What time will she finish?
• Mrs. Kennedy’s 3rd-grade class is going to the aquarium on a field trip. They are scheduled to arrive at 9:10 a.m. and leave at 1:40 p.m. How long will they spend at the aquarium?

Elapsed Time Games

Try these games and activities at home to help your children practice elapsed time.

Daily Schedule

Let your children keep track of their schedule and ask them to figure the elapsed time for each activity. For example, how long did your child spend eating breakfast, reading, taking a bath, or playing video games?

How Long Will It Take?

Give your kids practice with elapsed time by encouraging them to figure out how long daily activities take. For example, the next time you order a pizza online or by phone, you'll probably be given an estimated delivery time. Use that information to create a word problem that's relevant to your child's life, such as, "It's 5:40 p.m. now and the pizza shop says the pizza will be here at 6:20 p.m. How long will it take for the pizza to arrive?"

Order a set of time dice from online retailers or teacher supply stores. The set contains two twelve-sided dice, one with numbers representing the hours and the other with numbers representing minutes. Take turns rolling the time dice with your child. Each player should roll twice, then calculate the elapsed time between the two resulting dice times. (A pencil and paper will come in handy, as you'll want to jot down the time of the first roll.)

Elapsed Time Word Problem Answers

•  2 hours and 2 minutes
• 6 hours and 34 minutes
• 2 hours and 30 minutes
• 7 hours and 35 minutes
• 1 hour and 52 minutes
• 3 hours and 12 minutes
• 1 hour and 10 minutes
• 4 hours and 30 minutes
• How To Tell Time in Spanish
• Sinking of the RMS Titanic
• A Timeline of the Sinking of the Titanic
• How to Tell Time in Italian
• When Is the Spring Equinox?
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• World War II: Operation Ten-Go
• Proportions Word Problems Worksheet: Answers and Explanations
• Telling Time in French
• Learn About the Munich Olympic Massacre
• Fundamental Lessons for Telling the Time
• Practice Multiplication Skills With Times Tables Worksheets
• The Longest Day of the Year
• Solving Problems Involving Distance, Rate, and Time
• The Assassination of President William McKinley
• The Attack on Pearl Harbor

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Elapsed Time Worksheets

Worksheets, materials, and printables for teaching students about calculating elapsed time, or time passing.

Level: Basic Half Hour Increments

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Level: Intermediate 5 Minute Increments

Level: advanced 1 minute increments.

Printable clock worksheets for teaching students to tell time on analog clocks.

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Elapsed Time Word Problems Worksheets

How do you calculate elapsed time? Elapsed time is the difference between the starting and ending times. To find the elapsed time, students need to learn how to read a clock and take a measure of time. Since, the time has not more than 60 minutes and seconds, with hours being not more than 24. Now there are different ways in which you can calculate the elapsed time and are as follows. You can think of a problem, by picturing the time on the clock and moving it by hours or minutes. For instance, 11:50 pm + 1 hour = 12:50 am; given that the day changes at 12. When you are taking out the difference, there are different things you need to consider. The most important thing is the borrowing step. In this regard, we have to be just as careful as we are during decimal subtraction. As you practice this, your skills will get better and it will seem easier for you. This series of lessons and worksheets will teach students how to determine an elapsed time with story based math problems.

Aligned Standard: 3.MD.A.1

• Caveman Word Problems - Step by Step Lesson - How long does it take Burbus, the Woolly Mammoth, to go from his town to the woods?
• Auto Mechanic Word Problems - Advanced Lesson - It looks like, if the problem is right, auto mechanics do pretty well for themselves.
• Finding Elapsed Time Worksheet 1 - Mathematical warm-ups to get you off on the right foot.
• Going Grocery Shopping Worksheet 2 - Groceries are a big part of our life and take a good bit of time.
• Elapsed Time: Restaurant Worksheet 3 - If you were going out to eat, you might run into these problems.
• Elapsed Time Word Problems Worksheet 4 - David is mowing the lawn, Kaleb is cooking. Seems like everyone is busy.
• Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.

Homework Sheets

We start out slow with homework and then we move fast.

• Homework 1 - Determine the elapsed time for each problem.
• Homework 2 - Tyler got in line for his favorite ride at 11:35, and he boarded the ride at 12:25. How long was he waiting to get on the ride?
• Homework 3 - If Jamie started jogging at 7:15 and jogged for an hour, what time did she stop jogging?
• Homework 4 - You've had a busy weekend and want to determine how long you spent doing each activity. You know what time each event started and ended, but aren't sure how long each event took. Using the timeline, determine how long each event lasted.

Practice Worksheets

The practice sheets cover a lot of different themes and thoughts for students to contemplate.

• Practice 1 - What is the missing time in those gaps?
• Practice 2 - If Sarah leaves her house at 6:45 and gets to the bus stop at 7:00, how long does it take her to walk to the bus stop?
• Practice 3 - Henry painted a picture of a tree in 25 minutes. If he started at 3:15, what time did he finish?
• Practice 4 - Column one shows a start time. Column two shows an end time. Fill in the duration (how much time has passed between the two times) column on the chart.

Math Skill Quizzes

The first quiz you will run into a lot of time in real life. This is especially true if you live in a major city.

• Quiz 1 - James left his house for the train station at 1:30. If he arrived at the station at 3:05, how long did it take him to get to the station?
• Quiz 2 - Manny and Joe started sailing their boats in the pond at 3:10 and decided to go home at 7:55. How long were they sailing their boats?
• Quiz 3 - Daniel wen to the zoo for the day. He arrived at 9:30 and left at 5:45. How much time did he spend at the zoo?

How Is This Skill Used in The Real World?

This skill has a ton of application in the real world. Understanding the duration of time is critical in many medical aspects of recovery and therapy. Doctors often build a recovery timeline for their patients. If you were every injured or have been really sick, you would know this for instance. I played high school and college softball. I had the toughest position in terms of stress on the knee. I was a catcher. On the typical day, I would crouch over a thousand times. Having a career that spanned well over fifteen years, physicians estimate that I crouched well over a million times. As a result, I had to have my right knee replaced through surgery. After surgery I had a two-day hospital stay. My physician gave me a recovery timeline that indicated what activities I should be able to do at each stage. It was based on days. I was told to stay immobile for ten days, followed by ten days of light walking, every ten to twelve days I was able to do a little more. Guess how I calculate what day my level activity expanded? You guessed it. I also had eight weeks of physical therapy. I would perform strengthening exercises and have therapy performed on my knee. Each exercise or therapy session was based on ten to fifteen-minute increments. Every time I attended a session, it was an elapsed time word problem to determine when my session was complete, and I could head home or call form a ride.

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How to Solve Word Problems of Elapsed Time

Word problems involving elapsed time at the elementary level typically require students to determine the time that has passed between two given times or events.

A Step-by-step Guide to Solving Word Problems of Elapsed Time

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you solve word problems involving elapsed time:

Step 1: Read and Understand the Problem

Carefully read the word problem to fully understand what it is asking. Identify the starting time, ending time, and any other relevant information provided.

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Step 2: identify the knowns and unknowns.

Determine what information is given (knowns) and what information you need to find (unknowns). This will help you organize the problem and set up the solution.

Step 3: Determine the Time Units

Identify the units of time used in the problem. Determine if the problem involves hours, minutes, or a combination of both.

Step 4: Set Up the Problem

Based on the knowns and unknowns, set up the problem mathematically. Determine the operation you need to perform to find the elapsed time.

• To find the elapsed time, subtract the starting time from the ending time.
• To find the ending time, add the elapsed time to the starting time.

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Step 5: perform the operation.

Perform the necessary calculations to find the answer. Make sure to carry over minutes or hours correctly when subtracting or adding time.

Step 6: Check Your Answer

Double-check your calculations and ensure that your answer makes sense in the context of the problem. Verify that the units of time are correct and the answer aligns with the question asked.

Practice solving various word problems involving elapsed time to strengthen your skills. Remember to carefully read the problem, identify the knowns and unknowns, and set up the problem correctly before performing the calculations.

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Elapsed Time – Meaning With Examples

Definition of elapsed time, formula to calculate elapsed time, calculate elapsed time, solved example, practice problems, frequently asked questions.

Suppose it is 3:30 p.m. and you have to go watch a movie at 6:20 p.m. Before leaving, you need to do homework. So, how would you calculate how much time you have to do the homework? 

Whenever we have to figure out how long an activity or event takes to complete, we are talking about the time elapsed between the start and end of the event. Let’s explore the meaning of elapsed time and more. Let’s dive in right away!

Elapse is a verb of time that means “pass,” and time, on the other hand, is a measurable duration in which an event occurs. So, the time taken by an event to occur between the start of the time and the end of the time is called elapsed time. In simple terms, it is the difference between the two given times.

Some examples of how we use time elapsed in our daily lives: 

• The time taken to cook a recipe.
• The duration of a movie.
• The duration of a car journey. 

The elapsed time can be calculated by finding the difference between the end time and the starting time. We subtract the hours and minutes separately. 

Related Worksheets

The duration of time elapsed between an event means the difference between the two given times. Before we talk about the duration of time, remember there are two formats to write the time:

• 12-hour format where we apply the suffixes a.m. and p.m. to the time. 
• 24-hour format where the time runs from 00:00 (midnight) to 23:59. 

Let’s understand the different methods to calculate and solve elapsed time problems.

Elapsed Time on the Number Line

To calculate the duration of an event, it is easy to count up the hours using a number line. We can carry out the following steps to solve a time-elapsed problem on a number line.

• Divide the number line into equal intervals of time.
• Mark the starting time and the end time on the number line.
• Draw an arrow to the nearest hour, and calculate the minutes to the nearest hour.
• Count hours until you reach the hour before the final or end time. Then the minute from this hour to the final time.
• Add up all the time to find the final answer. 

Let’s understand more about this by solving a problem.

Example: What is the amount of time elapsed between 11:45 and 15:10?

Divide the number into equal time intervals and mark the starting and end time on it. We subtract the 45 minutes from 60 minutes to calculate the duration between 11:45 and the nearest hour, which is 12:00. There are 15 minutes. 

Between 12:00 and 15:00, there are 3 hours in all. And from 15:00 to 15:10, there are 10 minutes.

Add up the minutes and hours to find the total time elapsed. The amount of time elapsed is 3 hours and 25 minutes. This method is best when dealing with time in a 12-hour format.

Subtracting Times

As we covered earlier, the time elapsed between an activity means the difference between the two given times. So, we can calculate the duration of an activity or event by determining the difference between the start and end times.

Elapsed Time $=$ Final Time $–$ Starting Time

If an event’s start and end times are in 12-hour format, we can convert them to 24-hour clock format and carry out the following steps.

The steps to calculate the time elapsed are as follows:

Step I: Compare the minute of both times.

Case 1: If the minutes of the “end time” is less than the minutes of the “start time,” then in the “end time.”

• Take one hour away. 
• Add 60 to the minutes of the first time.

Case 2: If the minutes of the “end time” is more than the minutes of the “start time,” jump to the second step directly. 

Step II: Subtract the minutes of both times.

Step III: Subtract the hours of both times.

Hence, the answer is the result of Steps II and III together. 

For example, calculate the duration between 6:20 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

9:00 – 7:10. Here, we will use regrouping. 

Step I: Here, the minutes of the first (end) time is less than the minutes of the second (start) time. So, we borrow 1 hour and add 60 to the minutes.

Step II: Subtract the minutes: 60 $–$ 20 $=$ 40

Step III: Subtract the hours: 8 $–$ 6 $=$ 2

So, the time elapsed is 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Let’s study an example where one time is a.m., and the other is at p.m. We can convert these times to a 24-hour format and calculate the duration, or we can solve it as below.

For example, calculate the time elapsed between 7:30 a.m. and 2:25 p.m.

If one of the times is in a.m. and the other is in p.m., we will follow the steps below:

Step I: Find the time elapsed between 7:30 a.m. and 12 noon. 

The duration between 7: 30 a.m. and 12:00 noon is 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Step II: Find the time interval between 12 noon and 2:25 p.m.

Between 12 noon and 2:25 p.m., the interval is 2 hours and 25 minutes.

Step III: Add the time intervals of steps I and II to find the final answer.

4 hours and 30 minutes $+$ 2 hours and 25 minutes or 6 hours and 55 minutes.

Calculate the Start or End Time of the Activity

Formula to calculate the duration of time elapsed: 

Elapsed Time = Final Time – Starting Time

If you know the duration and initial time, you can calculate the final time from the start time using the duration.

End time = Start time + Time elapsed. 

If you know the duration and final time, use the formula to calculate the start time:

Start time $=$ Final time $–$ Time elapsed

To conclude from the above-explained, the elapsed time is the amount of time between two given times. If you are looking for some more worksheets on the elapsed time, check out SplashLearn today! Visit the website to make learning a fun experience.

• Find the time elapsed between 9:20 a.m. and 3:55 p.m.

Duration between 9:20 a.m. and 12 noon $=$ 2 hours 40 minutes

Duration between 12 noon and 3:55 p.m. $=$ 3 hours 55 minutes

So, the time interval between 9:20 a.m. and 3:55 p.m. 

$=$ 2 hours 40 minutes + 3 hours 55 minutes

$=$ 6 hours 35 minutes

• Find the time elapsed between 18:20 and 19:45 using the number line.

Solution: 

The number line is divided into equal intervals of 5 mins.

Between the two points marked, there are 17 intervals.

Therefore, the time interval between 18:20 and 18:45 is 175 or 85 minutes, which is equal to 1 hour and 25 minutes.

By looking at the number line, we get that the interval between 18:20 and 19:45 is 10 minutes + 1 hour + 15 minutes $=$ 1 hour 25 minutes

• Olive plans to watch her favorite movie. The movie starts at 12:30 p.m. and is 3 hours and 40 minutes long. At what time will the movie end? 

Final time $=$ Start time + Duration of the movie

So, the movie ends at 12:30 p.m. + 3 hours 40 minutes.

Adding 3 hours to 12:30 p.m., we get 3:30 p.m.

Adding 40 minutes to 3:30 p.m., we get 4:10 p.m.

• Amelia and Mia started doing their homework at 3:30 p.m. Amelia completed her homework at 5:25 p.m., and Mia completed her homework at 6:00 p.m. Who took more time and by how much?

Time elapsed between 3:30 p.m. and 5:25 p.m. is 1 hr and 55 min.

Amelia completed her homework in 1 hr and 55 min.

Time elapsed between 3:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. is 2 hr and 30 min.

Mia finished her homework in 2 hr and 30 min.

Mia took more time to complete her homework by 35 minutes.

Elapsed Time - Meaning With Examples

Attend this quiz & Test your knowledge.

Find the time elapsed between 2:30 p.m. and 11:25 p.m.

On an analog clock, what is the time covered when the hour hand moves from the number 9 to 10, noah started his journey and reached his destination in 5 hours 35 minutes. if he reached at 2:00 p.m., then at what time did he start for his destination.

In simple terms, the elapsed time is the amount of time that passes from the start of an activity to its end. For example, the time taken to cook a recipe, the duration of a movie, or the car journey. This can help us compare the time taken to complete different activities.

What is the time elapsed between 21 November and 30 November?

Elapsed days are the number of days between the two dates. The elapsed days between 21 November and 30 November are 8.

What is the difference between 12-hour and 24-hour clock format?

There are two primary methods of representing the time. 

• The 12-hour clock uses the suffixes a.m. and p.m. In a 12-hour clock format the day is divided into two 12-hour periods.
• 24-hour clock, where the time is written using 4 digits. The first two digits denote the hour and the last two denote minutes.

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How to Calculate Elapsed Time

• Calculating the elapsed time means to find the difference between two times.
• To calculate the elapsed time, it is easiest to count up in hours.
• First find the number of minutes from the earliest time to the next hour by subtracting the number of minutes in the earliest time from 60.
• Count up in hours until the hour before the final time.
• Then read the number of minutes from this hour until the final time.
• Here, there are 40 minutes until 09:00, 1 hour until 10:00 and then 15 minutes from 10:00 until 10:15.
• Adding the minutes, we have 1 hour 55 minutes.

• The start and end times are labelled on the end of a time line.
• Between 11:45 and 15:11 are the hours of 12:00, 13:00, 14:00 and 15:00, which are marked on the time line.
• We subtract the 45 minutes of 11:45 from 60 minutes to get 15 minutes. There are 15 minutes from 11:45 to 12:00.
• Between 12:00 and 15:00 there are 3 hours.
• From 15:00 to 15:11 there are 11 minutes.
• We add the minutes together. 15 + 11 = 26 minutes in total.
• The elapsed time is 3 hours 26 minutes.

• Minutes in an Hour and Hours in a Day
• How to Read a Clock
• Subtraction Without Regrouping

Elapsed Time Worksheets and Answers

Elapsed Time

How to calculate the elapsed time.

• Count the number of minutes from the first time to the hour that comes after it.
• Count on in hours until the hour immediately before the final time.
• Count the number of minutes from this hour until the final time.
• Add the hours and minutes to find a total.

Examples of Calculating Elapsed Time

Elapsed Time Using Subtraction

The Formula for Calculating Elapsed Time

Elapsed Time on a Number Line

Elapsed Time Word Problems

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How to Teach Elapsed Time Word Problems

If you have students working towards understanding elapsed time word problems there are a few strategies you can keep in mind to make the process easier!

All Elapsed Time Word Problems Are Not Created Equally!

When diving into elapsed time word problems, not all problems are the same level of difficulty. An elapsed time problem including hours only is going to be much more simple for your students to solve than a problem to the nearest minute. Use this to your advantage!

Start with simple problems to the nearest hour: Andy woke up at 7:00 am. He spends 2 hours getting ready and then leaves the house. What time did Andy leave the house?

Your students can use this type of problem to get used to using an open number line to solve. When they are presented with a more difficult problem in the future, your students won’t need to problem-solve around the conventions of the problem type but can instead spend their time focusing on the most efficient way to solve the problem.

When your students are confidently using a number line to solve elapsed time word problems involving hours you can then move to problems to the minute: Andy woke up at 7:08 and was ready for school by 7:52. How long did it take Andy to get ready?

Think CRA When Calculating Elapsed Time

When we talk about “thinking CRA” we are considering how a concept can be taught or understood at the c oncrete, r epresentational and a bstract levels.

Elapsed time word problems themselves are at the abstract level. There is no hands-on or visual support for your students. Your students need to be thinking and understanding at an abstract level to solve.

Taking a step backward, you can introduce the tool of an open number line as a helpful representational model for your students. Recording the start and end times as well as the “jumps” along the number line can help to make the concept of elapsed time more visual for your students.

Taking another step backward we can make elapsed time concrete for students by working alongside a model clock. Move the hands on the clock and record (or ask your students to record) those same movements on an open number line. This will help your students to make the connection between time and the visual model.

Try Numberless Word Problems

Numberless word problems are a tool that can help students to focus on the action of a word problem. While an elapsed time word problem may have a missing start time, missing end time or missing elapsed time using a numberless word problem can help your students to follow the action and solve for the unknown.

Let’s try one together!

Start with the context alone: Coco is baking cookies! Her cookies need to bake for a specific amount of time. She puts them into the oven at __:____.

Ask your students what they notice about the story. Who is in the story? What is happening? What do we know about the story? What are we wondering?

Next, introduce your first bit of information: Coco is baking cookies! Her cookies need to bake for a specific amount of time. She puts them into the oven at 2:10.

Ask your students again; What is happening in the story? What new information did we learn? What are we still wondering? How long *might* the cookies go into the oven for? What is a reasonable guess?

Introduce your second bit of information next: Coco is baking cookies! Her cookies need to bake for exactly 13 minutes. She puts them into the oven at 2:10.

Ask your students what new pieces of information they learned in the story. What questions could we ask (or answer!) about this story? Do the cookies bake for a longer or shorter period of time than you anticipated?

Last, present the entire word problem. Coco is baking cookies! Her cookies need to bake for exactly 13 minutes. She puts them into the oven at 2:10. What time should Coco take the cookies out of the oven?

At this point, your students can solve the problem- but don’t stop there! After solving, ask your students if their answer is reasonable and if it matches the story.

Bringing It All Together

Teaching elapsed time? Remember to keep these three tips in mind!

• All problems are not created equally. Start simple and elaborate as your students confidence grows.
• Offer hands-on and visual supports alongside abstract elapsed time word problems.
• Try numberless word problems to help your students focus on the action of these story problems.

Related Resources

These strategies (and more!) have been organized for you into a 5 lesson Elapsed Time math intervention unit . This unit includes pre and post assessment, 5 detailed lessons along with independent practice activities ideal for small group math intervention!

This Unit Includes

• Pre and Post Assessment
• 5 Detailed Lesson Plans
• Independent Practice Activities
• Tickets Out The Door
• Read more about: Uncategorized

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How to calculate elapsed time

Elapsed time and time duration formula, techniques and practice

Author Tess Loucka

Published October 11, 2023

Elapsed time and time duration formula, techniques, and practice

Published Oct 11, 2023

• Key takeaways
• Elapsed time is the time that exists between the start and end of an event
• Calculating elapsed time is one of the most common types of mathematics that we use in our daily lives
• The formula for elapsed time is Elapsed Time = End Time – Start Time

Table of contents

What is elapsed time?

Practice problems.

Picture this: it’s 3:15 and you’re at home getting ready for a birthday party. You have to leave at 5:45 but you still need to pick out your outfit and wrap your present! 

How much time do you have to finish getting ready? 

Calculating elapsed time is one of the most common forms of mathematics we use in our daily lives, but what is it? 

The word “elapse” means to pass by. When used to talk about time, it means the amount of time that has passed between the start and end of an event. E.g., the time between now (3:15) and when you have to leave to get to the birthday party on time (5:45). 

Said another way, elapsed time is  the difference between two times. 

Elapsed time is sometimes called time duration . Duration is the amount of time it takes for something to take place or how long an event continues. To calculate duration time would be the same as calculating elapsed time . 

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Real-world examples of elapsed time

How often do you look at the clock to figure out how many hours are left until school is over, how many episodes of your favorite show you can watch until dinner, or how much time you have to study before a test?

You use elapsed time in each of those examples. The ability to calculate time duration also comes in handy when figuring out how long it will take to follow a recipe, finish a movie, or drive to school.

Elapsed time can be used to calculate the time between dates on a calendar, too.

When calculating elapsed time in terms of days or months, knowing the number of days in each month of the year, including leap years, will come in handy!

Explore elapsed time with DoodleMaths

Meet  DoodleMaths , the award-wining maths app that’s proven to double a child’s rate of progression with just 10 minutes of use a day!

Filled with fun, interactive questions covering the whole curriculum, it creates each child a unique work programme tailored to their needs, boosting their confidence and skills in the subject.  Try it for free  today!

Before you can calculate elapsed time , you must know how to tell time and how to subtract. These are the foundation of time duration. Once you have a strong foundation, you can use the following techniques for calculating elapsed time: the elapsed time formula, the “counting-up” technique or a number line.

Formula to calculate time duration

Using the elapsed time formula below, let’s revisit our birthday party example. If it’s 3:15 PM and the party starts at 5:45 PM, how much time do you have to get ready for the birthday party?.

Elapsed Time = End Time – Start Time

To solve the problem, we need to subtract the start time from the end time. By plugging our start and end time into the equation we can solve for elapsed time. 

5:45 – 3:15 = 2 hours and 30 minutes

This means there are 2 hours and 30 minutes between 3:15 and 5:45. So, you have 2 hours and 30 minutes to finish getting ready before you have to leave for the birthday party!

The 'Counting-Up' technique

Another technique that makes calculating time duration easier is the “counting-up” technique. Count up from the starting time by hours. Once you get to the same hour as the end time, either add or subtract the start time’s minutes to equal the end time’s minutes. 

Take 6:20 PM and 9:00 PM, for example. Count up from the start time (6:20) by hours until you reach the end time (9:00) — 7:20, 8:20, 9:20. That’s 3 hours. However, 9:20 is 20 minutes past our end time of 9:00. Therefore, we need to subtract 20 minutes from 3 hours to get our answer. 

3 hours – 20 minutes = 2 hours and 40 minutes. That’s the elapsed time from 6:20 to 9:00.

Calculate duration of time on a number line

To calculate the duration of time , you can draw a line with the start time at one end and the end time at the other. 

If the start time is not directly on the hour, add up the minutes to the next greatest hour. Do the same with the end time but to the next smallest hour. Add up the hours in between. Then, add the minutes. 

Let’s try this out using the times 3:48 and 8:19.

The start time of 3:48 is not directly on an hour, so we’ll add up the minutes to the next greatest hour, which is 4:00. 

3:48 + 12 minutes = 4:00

The end time of 8:19 is also not directly on an hour, so we’ll subtract the minutes to the previous hour, which is 8:00. 

8:19 – 19 minutes = 8:00. 

To get from 4:00 to 8:00, we count 4 hours on the number line. Next, we add the additional minutes we calculated together.

12 + 19 = 31

Finally, we add the hours to the minutes to get the total elapsed time.

4 hours + 31 minutes = 4 hours and 31 minutes

So, the elapsed time between 3:48 and 8:19 is 4 hours and 31 minutes. 

For more practice on calculating time duration , pay attention to the times things take place in your day-to-day life. Figure out how long your classes are, how long a show is, or how much time there is between when you go to bed and when you wake up. 

Answer: 3 hours and 45 minutes

Answer: 5 hours and 49 minutes

Answer: 1 hour and 5 minutes

Answers explained

Use the counting-up technique. From 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. is 3 hours. Add the 45 minutes to that to get 3 hours and 45 minutes.

You can use the elapsed time formula or a number line to solve this problem too. Make sure your child knows the difference between AM and PM when calculating the elapsed time.

Use the number line technique. Calculate the minutes between 3:19 and the next greatest hour (4:00) to get 41 minutes.

Calculate the minutes between 9:08 and the previous hour (9:00) to get 8 minutes.

To get from 4:00 to 9:00, you count 5 hours. Next, add your minutes together (41 + 8 = 49) and then add 49 minutes to 5 hours to get the final answer of 5 hours and 49 minutes. 

Plug the start time and end time into the elapsed time formula to solve for elapsed time. 

6:20 – 5:15 = 1 hour and 5 minutes. 

FAQs about elapsed time

Elapsed time is the amount of time that has passed between the start and end of an event or given time frame.

There are 3 hours in between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Three hours is an example of elapsed time.

You can count elapsed time using the elapsed time formula, a number line, or the counting-up technique.

Try DoodleMaths for free!

Related posts

What do AM and PM stand for?

Learn the difference between AM and PM and how important they are

What are odd and even numbers?

We explore examples of odd and even numbers from 1 to 100

A guide to the KS1 maths curriculum

Discover all the topics children are introduce to in KS1 maths

Lesson credits

Tess Loucka

Tess Loucka discovered her passion for writing in high school and has not stopped writing since. Combined with her love of numbers, she became a math and English tutor, focusing on primary and secondary school level topics. Since graduating from Hunter College, her goal has been to use her writing to spread knowledge and the joy of learning to readers of all ages.

Tess Loucka discovered her passion for writing in high school and has not stopped writing since. Combined with her love of numbers, she became a math and English tutor, focusing on primary and secondary topics. Since graduating from Hunter College, her goal has been to use her writing to spread knowledge and the joy of learning to readers of all ages.

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Time Word Problems Worksheets

Time riddles (harder).

Welcome to our Time Word Problems Worksheets page. Here you find our selection of more challenging Time Riddles to help your child learn to read, record and solve problems involving time and clocks.

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Looking for some 24 hour clock problem sheets? Do you need some challenging time problems for older children? Then hopefully you have found the right place!

The printable time sheets in this section involve being able to tell the time to the nearest minute, as well as converting times between the 12 and 24 clock.

These worksheets are great to use when your child is confident telling the time and needs to extend their knowledge by solving time problems.

The sheets are also very good at developing an understanding of mathematical language associated with time.

Each sheet has 2 different Time Riddles with 8 possible solutions.

The aim of each puzzle is to use the clues to work out the correct solution.

Using these sheets will help your child to:

• read times to the nearest minute;
• convert analogue to digital times;
• use 'past' and 'to' language correctly to tell the time;
• convert times between the 12 and 24 hour clock;
• solve problems involving time;

Our time word problems worksheets will help you practice applying your time skills and knowledge to solve problems.

Time Word Problems Worksheets : to the nearest minute

• Time Riddles 4a
• PDF version
• Time Riddles 4b
• Time Riddles 4c

Time Word Problems Worksheets: 24 hour clock

The printable time worksheets in this section involve converting times between the 12 and 24 hour clock.

• 24 Hour Time Riddles Sheet 1
• 24 Hour Time Riddles Sheet 2
• 24 Hour Time Riddles Sheet 3

Extension Activity Ideas

If you are looking for a way to extend learning with these Time Riddles, why not...

• Get children to work in partners with one child choosing one of the 8 possible times and the other child asking 'yes/no' questions. E.g. Is it earlier than...? Is the minute hand on number 6...? Is it later than 4pm? ... etc
• Children could write their own set of clues down to identify one of the clocks.

Looking for something easier?

Here you will find our selection of easier Time Riddles.

The sheets in this section are similar to those on this page, but involve telling the times: o'clock and half-past, quarter past and quarter to, and to 5 minute intervals.

• Time Riddles (easier)

Need help telling the time?

Here you will find our selection of telling time clock worksheets to help your child to learn their o'clock, half-past, quarter past and to, and 5 minute intervals.

• read o'clock, half-past times;
• read quarter past and quarter to;
• read time going up in 5 minute intervals;
• convert analogue times to digital;

The sheets in this section are a great way of starting your child off with learning to tell the time.

• Telling Time Worksheets o'clock and half past
• Clock Worksheets - Quarter Past and Quarter To
• Telling Time 5 minute intervals
• Telling Time Worksheets Grade 4 (1 minute intervals)

Time Interval Worksheets

These sheets will help you learn to add and subtract hours and minutes from times as well as working out a range of time intervals.

There are also sheets to help you practice adding and subtracting time intervals.

• Add and Subtract Time Worksheets
• Elapsed Time Worksheets
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