Quarter
When talking about time, a quarter can refer to a number of different things. Generally, it refers to the fraction ¼, so a quarter of anything is just ¼ of the total. Refer to the fractions page if necessary.
Examples
Quarter of an hour : Since there are 60 minutes in an hour,
so there are 15 minutes per quarter. When someone says "a quarter to 5" or "a quarter past 5" it means the time is 4:45 and 5:15 respectively.
Quarter of a year :
- Solar year - 3 months
- Q1: Jan 1 - March 31
- Q2: April 1 - June 30
- Q3: July 1 - September 30
- Q4: October 1 - December 31
- Academic year - ~8 - 12 weeks
Quarters in sports :
- Football - Quarters in football are 15 minutes long, but due to stoppages, the actual amount of time a football game lasts can be significantly longer than 60 minutes.
- Basketball - Quarters in basketball are 10 minutes long. Like football, stoppages can make the total amount of time the game lasts longer than 40 minutes.
Quarters are also used as a form of money in the United States. A dollar is 100 cents, and a quarter is 25 cents.The term is also used as part of the name "Quarter Pounder," which is one of Mcdonald's signature burgers. Its name is based on its uncooked weight of ¼ pounds.