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kevincan
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When I use the accumulation method, wherein, I calculate the total hours in between 11:50 am (day 1) and 10:20 pm (day 2), I get 34.5 hours. Now, we loose 2.5 minutes every hour, that means we lost a total of 86.25 (34.5 * 2.5) minutes. So, 10:20 + 86 minutes, is 11:46 pm.
Where is it that I'm loosing track ? Please help me
kevincan
Improved version :

Desi’s watch loses 2.5 minutes per hour. The watch was set correctly at 11:50 am yesterday. When Desi’s watch shows 10:20 pm today, what will be the actual time?

(A) 11:20 pm
(B) 11:46 pm
(C) 11:50 pm
(D) 11:56 pm
(E) 12:00 am
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Your approach assumes that 34.5 hours is the actual elapsed (real) time, but that’s not correct.
The 34.5 hours you calculated is the time shown by the faulty watch, not the real time. Since the watch is losing 2.5 minutes every hour, it runs slow, so it underestimates the real time passed.
In other words, when the watch says 34.5 hours have passed, more than 34.5 hours have actually passed.
That’s why multiplying 34.5 × 2.5 minutes gives the wrong correction: you are applying the loss to the wrong quantity (watch time instead of real time).
To solve it correctly, you need to convert watch time into real time using the ratio:
  • 60 minutes real time → 57.5 minutes on the watch
So:
real time = watch time × (60 / 57.5)
This gives 36 hours of real time, leading to 11:50 pm, not 11:46 pm.
KRNSW
When I use the accumulation method, wherein, I calculate the total hours in between 11:50 am (day 1) and 10:20 pm (day 2), I get 34.5 hours. Now, we loose 2.5 minutes every hour, that means we lost a total of 86.25 (34.5 * 2.5) minutes. So, 10:20 + 86 minutes, is 11:46 pm.
Where is it that I'm loosing track ? Please help me

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