Distance and Direction Problem Basic Concept

•  Direction problems revolve around two terms, Distance & Direction
• There are 4 main directions: North, South, East, West
• There are four cardinal directions: North-East, North-West, South-East, and South-West
• The angle between major directions would be 90 degrees and between a major & a cardinal direction would be 90 degrees
•  Making a left turn, would lead to a clockwise movement
•  Making a right turn would lead to Anti-clockwise movement or turn
•  In case of sunrise, if a person is facing east, then his should be toward the west
• In the case of sunset, a person’s shadow would always be formed toward the east
•  At noon, the sun positions vertically, therefore no shadow would be formed.

Here’s the direction reasoning trick, the below figure is used in almost every question of direction problem.

These are the 3 Types of Questions in Direction Reasoning

•  Identify the direction of a walking person

Question. A man walks 5 km toward the south and then turns to the right. After walking 3 km he turns to the left and walks 5 km. Now in which direction is he from the starting place?

Answer: South -West

• Identify the direction based on sunset or sunrise

  • Should Understand the concept of Shadow Direction reasoning to solve the related questions
    • In the case of sunrise, If a person is facing towards the east then his shadow would be formed to the west. In case of sunset, If a person is facing towards west then his shadow would be formed to the east.
    • In the case of sunrise, If a person is facing towards the north then his shadow would be formed to his left. In the case of sunset, If a person is facing towards north then his shadow would be formed to his right.
    • At noon, no shadow would be formed

Question. One evening before sunset Rekha and Hema were talking to each other face to face. If Hema’s shadow was exactly to the right of Hema, which direction was Rekha facing?

Answer: South

Question. Reena starts walking early in the morning in the opposite direction to the sun. She then turns left and walks for 1 km and again takes a left turn. In which direction is she now?

1) West
2) North
3) East
4) South

Answer :

3) East

• Find the nearest Distance

  • Should Understand the concept of Distance and Direction reasoning to solve the related questions
    • First, make lines as per directions in the question
    • You would end up with a right angle triangle
    • Apply Pythagoras theorem, (Hypotenuse)² = (Base)² + (Perpendicular)²

Question. Suresh starting from his house goes 4 km in the East, then he turns to his right and goes 3 km. What minimum distance will be covered by him to come back to his house?

(Hypotenuse)² = (Base)² + (Perpendicular)²

(Hypotenuse)² = (3km)² + (4km)²

(Hypotenuse)² = 9km² + 16km²

(Hypotenuse)² = 25km²

Answer:  Hypotenuse = 5 km

• A Direction Becomes equivalent or alias of Another Direction

In this type of question, a direction will become a new direction, based on that we need to find, what would be other directions become?

• • In this first, identify the relation between a given direction and its alias direction
  • The identification can be based on clockwise, degree, movement parameters
  • After identifying, use the same relation on the asked direction to get its alias

If North-East becomes North, then what will East become?
1) South-East
2) North-East
3) South-West
4) North-West

The answer will be North East

 Explanation:

1) The North-East becomes North. Considering the above picture, the movement is clockwise and shifts 45 degrees to become North direction.
2) Applying the same, East will become North East if we shift 45 degree and move further, clockwise.

• Find Direction based on given degrees and turns

In this type of questions, degrees and the movement of a person are given. Based on that we need to find his final direction. The only thing one needs to consider, degree and facing position.

Question. A man is facing west and turns 45 degrees in the clockwise direction. He then turns another 180 degrees in the same direction and then 270 degree in anti clockwise direction. Which direction is he facing now?

1. Man walks towards west
2. He moves clockwise 45 degrees. Now he is facing towards North-West
3. Again, he moves 180 degrees clockwise, that makes him positioned towards South-East
4. Finally, he moves 270 degree anti clockwise, that makes him facing toward South-West

Answer is South-West

Below are some Mock Questions related to above example

1. A person walks 8 km, then he turned right & covered a distance of 3 km. After that, he turned left and covered a distance of 12 km. In the end, he was moving towards the north. From which direction, he started his journey?

1) North
2) East
3) South
4) West

2. If B is to north of A and C is to the east of B, in which direction is A with respect to C?

1) North-East
2) South-East
3) North-west
4) South-West

Answers:
1. South
2. South-west