Why is mirror time tricky?

When you look at a clock especially a wall clock you usually see a round face with 12 numbers arranged in a circle.

Two hands show the hours and minutes.

However reading the time becomes a little tricky when you look at a wall clock through a mirror. As shown in the image above, this puzzle asks you to figure out the correct time displayed on the wall clock.

Puzzles like this are not only fun but can also challenge your thinking skills and help you look at things from a different perspective.

Finding the answer requires a simple maths trick.

In the picture the blue minute hand appears to point at number 4, which represents 20 minutes. Meanwhile the black hour hand is between 5 and 6. This means the time shown in the mirror is 5:20.

But what is the actual time?

To find the correct answer, subtract the mirror time from 11:60, which is equal to 12:00.

Here is how it works

Subtract 5 from 11, which gives you 6.

Subtract 20 from 60, which gives you 40.

So, the calculation is

11:60 – 5:20 = 6:40

Therefore the correct time on the original wall clock is 6:40.