I have a clock at home that chimes on every hour and half hour mark. On whole hour marks it chimes once for each hour, and on half hour marks it chimes only once.

One night I was wakened suddenly and realized the the clock had chimed, but I did not know how many times. As I lay awake thinking about nothing in particular I heard the clock chime once and started wondering what time it was.

What is the longest amount of time I would have to lie awake before I knew for sure what time it was?

I say I'd know in 1 hour max. If the first chime was at 12:30, again at 1, then again at 1:30, I'd know that 3 times was the most that a clock would chime once (unless of course it chimes at the quarter hour also!) 1 hour.

Posted by lorna on 2005-08-09 09:14:46