The hands of the clock will be together again at about 1:05:27 (1 hour, 5 minutes, 27 seconds past 12).

Quick Scoop

Between 12 o'clock and 1 o'clock, the hour and minute hands meet exactly once, a little after 1:05.

Here’s the clean way to see it:

  • The minute hand moves 360 degrees in 60 minutes, so 6 degrees per minute.
  • The hour hand moves 360 degrees in 12 hours, i.e., 0.5 degrees per minute.
  • The minute hand therefore gains on the hour hand at 6−0.5=5.56-0.5=5.56−0.5=5.5 degrees per minute.
  • To be together again after 12:00, the minute hand must gain a full 360 degrees on the hour hand.
  • Time taken =360/5.5=720/11=360/5.5=720/11=360/5.5=720/11 minutes =65511=65\tfrac{5}{11}=65115​ minutes, which is 1 minute past 1:05 plus about 27 seconds.

So the exact time is:

1 hour 511\tfrac{5}{11}115​ minutes after 12:00, i.e., 1:05:27 (approximately).

Tiny Story-style Intuition

Imagine the hands starting perfectly together at 12:00. The minute hand sprints ahead while the hour hand strolls slowly forward. After a bit more than an hour, the minute hand has done almost a full lap and finally “catches up” to the hour hand again just after 1:05, at about 1:05:27.

Key Fact Table (clock-hand overlap)

[3] [5] [1][9][5] [9][1]
Quantity Value
Relative speed (minute vs hour hand) 5.5 degrees per minute
Angle to gain 360 degrees
Time between overlaps $$ \tfrac{720}{11} $$ minutes ≈ 65.4545 minutes
Time after 12:00 for next overlap About 1:05:27
**Bottom note:** Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.