Puzzle | Hourglasses Puzzle (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 13 Apr, 2026

Given two hourglasses of 4 minutes and 7 minutes, the task is to measure 9 minutes.

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Check if you were right - full answer with solution below.

**Solution:

**1. At 0 minutes: Start both hourglasses at the same time.

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**2. At 4 minutes: 4 minutes hourglass runs out and flip it. 7 minutes hourglass is left with 3 minutes.

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**3. At 7 minutes: 4 minutes hourglass is left with 1 minute. 7 minutes hourglass runs out and flip it.

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**4. At 8 minutes: 4 minutes hourglass runs out and 7 is filled with 6 minutes and 1 minute on the other side. Flip it as the sand is left with 1 minute.

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**5. At 9 minutes: 7 minutes hourglass becomes empty from above side.

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Hence we measured 9 minutes.