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Direction Sense Questions with Solutions

Direction Sense questions turn into simple coordinate geometry once you plot each step on a grid — the only real skill is tracking turns correctly. Here’s the approach, four fully worked examples, and a few to try yourself.

The approach, quickly

  • Treat East-West as one axis and North-South as the other, like a graph. Facing North, a right turn points you East and a left turn points you West.
  • A right turn rotates your facing direction 90° clockwise (N→E→S→W→N); a left turn rotates it 90° counter-clockwise (N→W→S→E→N). A U-turn reverses it completely.
  • For "how far from the start" questions, add up the net distance travelled along each axis separately, then apply the Pythagorean theorem: shortest distance = √(net east-west² + net north-south²).
  • For "which direction from the start" questions, the signs of the net east-west and net north-south displacement tell you directly which way to point.

Worked examples

1. A man walks 5 km towards North, then turns right and walks 3 km. Which direction is he facing now, and how far is he from his starting point?

Solution

  1. Facing North and turning right means he is now facing East.
  2. He has walked 5 km along the North-South axis and 3 km along the East-West axis — these are perpendicular, so distance from start = √(5² + 3²) = √34 ≈ 5.8 km.

Answer: Facing East, about 5.8 km (√34 km) from the start

2. Raj walks 8 km East, then turns left and walks 6 km. How far is he from his starting point?

Solution

  1. Facing East and turning left means he is now facing North.
  2. He has walked 8 km East and 6 km North — perpendicular legs, so distance = √(8² + 6²) = √100 = 10 km.

Answer: 10 km

3. A woman starts from point A and walks 4 km North, then 3 km East, then 4 km South. How far, and in which direction, is she from point A now?

Solution

  1. Track net displacement on each axis: North-South = +4 (North) then −4 (South) = 0 net. East-West = +3 (East).
  2. The North and South legs cancel out exactly, leaving only the 3 km East.

Answer: 3 km due East of A

4. P starts from his house and walks 10 km South. He then turns left and walks 10 km. He turns left again and walks 5 km. He turns left once more and walks 10 km. How far is he from his house, and in which direction?

Solution

  1. Track facing direction through each left turn: South → (left) → East → (left) → North → (left) → West.
  2. Plot each leg (East = +x, North = +y): 10 km South → (0, −10). 10 km East → (10, −10). 5 km North → (10, −5). 10 km West → (0, −5).
  3. Final position (0, −5) relative to the house means he is 5 km away, directly South of it.

Answer: 5 km due South of his house

Try these yourself

Plot the path on a grid, then check against the answer.

1. A man walks 5 km West, then turns left and walks 4 km. How far is he from his starting point (to one decimal place)?

Answer: ≈6.4 km (√41 km)

2. A cyclist starts at point X, rides 6 km North, then 8 km East, then 6 km South. How far, and in which direction, is he from X?

Answer: 8 km due East of X

3. A girl walks 4 km East, turns right, walks 4 km, turns right again, and walks 4 km. How far is she from her starting point, and in which direction?

Answer: 4 km due South of the start

Where this comes up

Direction Sense is a regular topic in the Reasoning/General Intelligence section of every exam Pariksha Saathi covers — SSC CGL, SSC MTS, SSC CHSL, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO and SBI Clerk.

Practice more Direction Sense questions

This page covers the approach and a handful of worked examples. Pariksha Saathi has full topic-wise practice sets for Direction Sense (and every other Reasoning/Quant/English topic) with instant scoring and explanations — free, no account required.

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