how many hours difference between eastern vs central time zones
That depends on whether you're talking about America or Australia and (between some places) whether or not daylight saving time is in effect. In America, Eastern Standard Time is one hour ahead of Central Standard Time. In Australia, Eastern Standard Time is a half hour ahead of Central Standard Time. New York is one hour ahead of Regina, Saskatchewan in December, but it's two hours ahead in June. In December, Southampton Island is an hour ahead of Chicago, but they're on the same time in June.