Puzze - How Long?

[Lisa]

A grandfather clock chimes the appropriate number of times to indicate the hour, as well as chiming once at each quarter hour. If you were in another room and heard the clock chime just once, what would be the longest period of time you would have to wait in order to be certain of the correct time?

Wouldn't it depend on which chime you heard? I mean, if you heard the 1:45 chime you would have to wait 15 mins. But if you heard the 1:15 chime you would have to wait 45 mins.. I think I'm lost on this one.

[Classic]

Time is all Relative.

[Classic]

1 hour.

[XxRachxX]

.....the clock chimes once, 1 o'clock then you have to wait 15 mins till the quarter hour chime.......then youd know that it was 1:15wouldnt you?? oh well 15 mins
..... but you could walk into the other room and look at the clock and that would only take seconds or you could look at your watch............

[Tim and Julie B]

45 minutes. Even if you hear the 12:15 chime, and it chimes once every 15 minutes, then after 4 single chimes you would know that it was 1 o'clock. But if you hear the 12:30 then you'd have to wait 1 and a half hour before knowing. My final answer is..........1 hour and 30 minutes!

[Lisa]

Tim and Julie got it. though the reasoning is slightly different.

You would have to wait 90 minutes between 12:15 and 1:45.
Once you had heard seven single chimes, you would know that the next chime would be two chimes for 2 o'clock.

The reasoning being that you wouldn't have to hear the 2 o'clock chime because you would have heard 7 single chimes, the most single chimes in a row possible.