HSC Standard Math Practice Exam 2026 - Free Math Practice Questions and Study Guide

Traveling east means moving into time zones that are generally ahead of the time in the previous zone. The Earth is divided into 360 degrees of longitude, and for every 15 degrees of longitude you travel east, the local time increases by one hour. This is because the Earth rotates from west to east, meaning that locations to the east experience sunrise and daybreak before locations to the west.

As you move east, you are essentially moving towards the direction of the rising sun, which leads to a later time in the day in comparison to your original location. Consequently, if it were for example 3 PM in one time zone, after traveling east into the next time zone, it could be 4 PM there. This is why the correct answer indicates that you have later times (PM) when traveling east.