The other tutor's answer is correct. I'll use a slightly different approach and a little more detail. Minute hand's rate= | Hour hand's rate= 360 degrees per 1 hour= | 360 degrees per 12 hours= 360 degrees per 60 minutes= | 30 degrees per 1 hour= 6 degrees per minutes | 30 degrees per 60 minutes= | 1/2 degree per minute At 2:00 the minute hand is straight up which is 60 degrees behind the hour hand, which is pointing at the numeral 2. So the minute hand mst catch up to the hour hand and pass it until it is by 204 degrees ahead of the hour hand. Let the answer be x minutes after 2:00 In x minutes the hour hand has turned through (1/2)x degrees. In those x minutes the minute hand has turned through 6x degrees To be 240 degrees ahead of the hour hand in x minutes, the minute hand must have turned through these angles: 1. the number of degrees it was behind the hour hand at 2:00, which is 60 degrees. plus 2. the number of degrees which the hour hand has turned through in x minutes since 2:00, which is (1/2)x degrees. plus 3. 204 more degrees, in order to be that many degrees ahead of the hour hand. That must total up to the number of degrees the minute hand has turned, which is 6x degrees. So the equation is 60 + (1/2)x + 204 = 6x (1/2)x + 264 = 6x Multiply through by 2 x + 528 = 12x 528 = 11x 48 = x So the answer is 2:48. Edwin