5. Direction test
5.1 Introduction
This class contains problems on directions which judge a student’s ability to
interpret a question correctly and follow its directions.
The figure below shows the four name directions (North N, South S. East E and West W)
and its cardinal directions (NorthEast NE, NorthWest NW, SouthEast SE and SouthWest SW).
Illustration 1
A man facing north goes to his right hand direction and then goes to the south.
He then goes to his left hand direction and then again moves to the south. Finally he goes
towards east and then moves to his right direction. In which direction is the man moving.
Solution
Consider yourself as the person in the problem and draw the directions in which he is moving.
You will come out with the following diagram.
From the above diagram, you can see that the person is moving in the SE direction.
Illustration 2
A driver drives 20 km towards east. He then takes a left turn and drives 7 km after which he goes
12 km towards west. Next, he takes a right turn and drives 5 km. Finally he takes left and drives
8 km. How far is he from the starting point.
Solution
Go about this problem same as in the previous one. The diagram would be like this:
So. the driver is at a distance of 12 km from the starting point.
Illustration 3
One day, a man left home and cycled 20 km towards south, turned left and cycled 5 km and turned
left and cycled 20 km and turned right and cycled 10 km. How many kilometres will he have to cycle to reach his home straight?
Solution
Clearly the man starts from home at A. moves 10 km towards south upto B,
akes left and moves 5 km upto C, takes left and moves 20 km towards north upto D and finally takes right and moves 10 km upto E.
Thus, the straight distance from AtoE = 5 + 10=15km
Illustration 4
A man is facing north. He turns 45° in the clockwise direction and then 90°
in the anticlockwise direction. Which direction is he facing now?
Solution
The man initially faces in the direction OA. On moving 45° clockwise, he faces in
the direction OB. On further moving 90° anticlockwise, he faces in the direction OC which is North-West.
Illustration 5
A clock shows 1:30. If the hour hand points west, in what direction will the minute hand point?
Solution
At the time of 1:30. the hour hand and minute hand are 135° apart.
If the hour hand points west, then the minute hand will point north-east.
Solved Examples
Example 1
A man starts on his bike towards west from a certain point. After driving 5 km he turns towards
north and drives another 4 km. From that point he turns towards east drives 8 kms and stops at a coffee shop.
How far is he from he starting point and in which direction from it.
(a) 5 km North-east (b) 4 km North-east
(c) 5 km South-east (d) 4 km South-west
Solution
Suppose the man starts from point A and reaches B after westwards 5 km, as shown in the diagram
and then turns towards north, drives another 4 km and reaches C. From C he turns towards east drives another
8 km to reach the coffee shop E.
Clearly his direction is North-east. The distance AE can be measured applying the following formula
Since AD = CB = 4 km and DE = CE – CD = 8 – 5 km = 3 km
= 5 km
Hence ‘A’ is the answer
Example 2
Binny starts on his cycle from a certain point and cycle 6 km towards south to reach a part which is a
square field of perimeter 20 km. Binny decides to take a CW round of the park but after covering three
sides of the park he meets Anju in the corner of the park. He stops to chat with her. How far is Binny from the
starting point and in which direction.
(a) 10 km South (b) 11 km South (c) 9 km East (d) 10 km North.
Solution
Binny’s movements are shown in the diagram. He starts from point P and reaches Q after driving 6 km towards South.
Each side of the square park with perimeter 20 km must be 5 km. After covering three sides i.e. Q to R, Rto S and S to
T he meets Anju. clearly he is at south from P and 11 km away as Q T is also 5 km. PQ + QT = 6 + 5 = 11 km
Example 3
A construction company has to allot 8 shops in their commercial complex among 8
highest bidders A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H, keeping in view the following and :
(i) The lay-out plan of the shops is given in the diagram.
(ii) G and H are friends and want joining shops,
(iii) A’s shop is to the right of H but faces that of D. (iv) E’s shop is at the start of the right hand side facing G’s.
(v) C’s does not mind facing the Entrance so long as his shop is as far away from E’s
as possible, (vi) F wants any shop adjacent to C’s as they are related.
On the basis of above, answer the following questions :
1. Who’s shop faces that of B?
(a) G (b) C (c) H (d) A
2. Who get corner shops at the start of the corridor on each side.
(a) G and E (b) H and A (c) C and A (d) D and B
Solution
As per given information the allotment plan is shown in the diagram. As
shown in the plan Answer to Q 1 is H and to Q 2 is A.
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EXERCISE-I
Directions: Each of the following questions contains certain information regarding the movement
of a person from a certain point to his destination or relating to the position of a group of persons. Study the
information carefully and tick the right option out of (A) to (D)
1. I am facing North. I turn right and walk 10 m. Then I turn right again and walk 10 m. Then I turn left
and walk 10 m and then turning right walk 20 m. Then I turn right again the walk 60 m. In which direction am I from the starting point?
(A) North (B) North-west (C) East (D) North-east
2. A man walks 1 km towards East and then he turns to South and walks 5 km. Again he turns to East and
walks 2 km, after this he turns to North and walks 9 km. Now, how far is he from his starting point?
(A) 3 km (B) 4 km (C) 5 km (D) 7 km
3. A child is looking for his father. He went 90 meters in the East before turning to his right. He went 20 metres
before turning to his right again to look for his father at his uncle’s place 30 metres from this point. His father was not there.
From here he went 100 metres to the North before meeting his father in a street. How far did the son meet his father from the starting point?
(A) 80 metres (B) 100 metres (C) 140 metres (D) 260 metres
4. Amit walked 25 metres towards South. Then he turned to his left and walked 20 metres. He then turned to his left and
walked 25 metres. He turned to his right and walked 15 metres. At what distance is he from the starting point and in which direction?
(A) 35 metres East (B) 35 metres North (C) 40 metres East (D) 60 metres East
5. Richards walks 20 m North. Then he turns right and walks 30 m. Then he turns right and walks 35 m.
Then he turns left and walks 15 m. Then he again turns left and walks 15 m. In which direction and how many metres away is he from his original position?
(A) 15 metres West (B) 30 metres East (C) 30 metres West (D) 45 metres East
6. From his house, Julia went 15 kms to the North. Then she turned West and covered 10 kms.
Then, she turned South and covered 5 kms. Finally, turning to East, she covered 10 kms. In which direction is he from his house?
(A) East (B) West (C) North (D) South
7. A man starts from a point ‘X’ and walks 3 km southwards, then he turns left and walks 6 km.
In which direction is he from the starting point?
(A) South-West (B) South-East (C) West (D) South.
Directions (Questions 8 to 11) : Six products — U, V, W, X, Y, and Z - are to be placed in display window of a shop.
There are six display window number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and one product is to be put in one window.
Moreover U cannot be immediately to the left or immediately to the right of
V. W must be immediately to the left of X, Z cannot be in window number 6.
8. Which of the following products cannot be placed in the window No 1 ?
(A) U (B) V (C) W (D) X
9. If X is placed in window No. 3, W must be placed in which window ?
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 4 (D) 5
10. If U is placed in window No. 5, which of the following products must be placed in window No. 6 ?
(A) V (B) W (C) X (D) Y
11. If Z is placed in window No. 3, immediately to the right of X, which product must be placed in window
No.5 ?
(A)U (B) V (C) Y (D) X
12. Siddharth and Murali go for jogging from the same point. Siddharth goes towards the east covering 4 km.
Murali proceeds towards the west for 3 km. Siddharth tuns left and covers 4 km and Murali turns to the right to cover 4 km.
Now what will be the distance between Siddharth and Murali ?
(A) 14 km (B) 6 km (C) 8 km (D) 7 km
13. A starts from a point and walks 5 km north, then turns left and walks 3 km. Then again turns left and walks
5 km. Point out the direction in which he is going now.
(A) North (B) South (C) East (D) West
14. Arzan started walking towards East. He walked a distance of 5 km and then turned to his right and walked10 km.
He again turned to his right and walked another15 km. Then he turned to his left and walked 5 km. In which direction is he in relation to his starting point?
(A) South (B) South-east (C) North-west (D) South-west
EXERCISE-II
Directions : The given questions are pertaining to movement of a person or of a vehicle in a given direction.
Using sense of direction, you are required to determine the location of the person or vehicle,
after the person or vehicle has convered a certain distance, talking turns towards right or left.
1. Suchit travels 7 km North, then turns right and walks 3 km. He again turns to his right and moves
7 km forward. How many km is Suchit away from the place of his starting the journey?
(A) 7 km (B) 3 km (C) 6 km (D) 14 km
2. Riyaz drives to North of her place of stay at A and find after travelling 25 km that she has driven in
the wrong direction. She then turns to the right and travels 2 km and then again turns right and drives
straight another 25 km. How much distance she has now to cover to go back to the point from where she started?
(A) 25 km (B) 2 km (C) 4 km (D) 50 km
3. Rachit travels 10 km North turns left and travels 4 km and then again turns right and covers another 5 km.
He then turns to right and travels another 4 km. How far is he from the point of starting his journey?
(A) 15 km (B) 4 km (C) 5 km (D) 10 km
4. Sparsh and Rabee both start from a point towards North. Sparsh turns to left after walking 10 km.
Rabee turns to right after walking the same distance. Sparsh waits for some time and then walks another 5 km,
whereas Rabee walks only 3 km. They both then return to their respective South and walk 15 km forward. How far is Sparsh from Rabee?
(A) 15 km (B) 10 km (C) 8 km (D) 12 km
5. A taxi driver commenced his journey from a point and drove 10 km towards North and turned to his left
and drove another 5 km. After waiting to meet one of his friends, he turned to his right and contiuned to drive another 10 km.
He has covered a distance of 25 km so far but in which direction is he now heading?
(A) North (B) East (C) West (D) South
6. There is a ring road connecting points A, B, C and D. The road is in a complete circular form but having several approach
roads leading to the centre. Exactly in the centre of the ring road there is a tree which is 20 km from point A on the circular road.
You have taken a round of the circular road starting from point A and finish at the same point after touching points
B, C and D. You then drive 20 km interior towards the tree from point A and from there reach somewhere in between B and C on the ring road.
How much distance you have to travel from the tree to reach the point between B and C on the ring road?
(A) 20 km (B) 15 km (C) 80 km (D) 40 km
7. A tourist dirves 10 km towards East and turns to right-hand side and takes a drive of another 3 km.
He then drives towards West (turning to his right) another 3 km. He then turns to his left and walks another 2 km.
Afterwards, he turns to his right and travels 7 km. How far is he from his starting point and in which direction?
(A) 10 km East (B) 9 km North (C) 8 km West (D) 5 km South
8. Rachit walks 30 m towards south. Then turns to his right and starts walking straight till he completes another 30 m.
Then again turning to his left he walks for 20 m. He then turns to his left and walks for 30 m. How far is he from his initial position?
(A) 50 m (B) 30 m (C) 10 m (D) 60 m
9. Vishakha drove her car for 30 km due North. Then she turned left and drove for 40 km. She then turned left again and drove yet another 30 km.
Again she turned left and drove her car 50 km. How far she actually drove her car from the initial position?
(A) 40 km (B) 50 km (C) 30 km (D) None of these
10. Sanskar ran 20 m to the east, then he turned left and walked for 15 m, then turned right and went 25 m and then turned right again and went 15m.
How far was Sanskar from the starting point?
(A) 45 m (B) 35 m (C) 25 m (D) 15 m
Directions: If you start running from a point towards north and after covering 4 km you turn to your left and run 5 km,
and then again turn to your left and run 5 km and then turn to left again and run another 6 km and before
finishing you take another left turn and run 1 km.
11. How many km are you form the place you started?
(A) 1 km (B) 2 km (C) 3 km (D) 4 km
12. In which direction will you be running while finishing?
(A) East (B) West (C) North (D) South
13. After taking the second turn, in which direction will you be running?
(A) East (B) West (C) North (D) South
14. From the finishing point if you have to reach the point from where you started, in which direction will you have to run?
(A) East (B) West (C) North (D) South
Directions :
(i) There are 6 check -posts A, B, C, D, E and F.
(ii) Check - post ‘F’ is 15 km to the North of ‘D’ which is 25 km to the North - East of ‘B’.
(iii) Check - post, ‘A’ is 5 km West of ‘E’ and 15 km to the South -West of ‘C’.
(iv) ‘B’, ‘A’ and ‘E’ are in straight line and in the same sequence.
(v) The check posts ‘B’ and ‘E’ are 30 km apart from each other.
15. Which check - post is the farthest to the South - West of ‘D’?
(A) A (B) B (C) C (D) D
16. Which post is the nearest to the North -West of E?
(A) A (B) B (C) C (D) D
17. If a jeep moves from E to F via A, B and D, how much distance it will have to cover?
(A) 70 km (B) 120 km (C) 100 km (D) 90 km
Directions: Rakshit walks 2 km towards North and turns to his right and walks 4 km more. He then turns to his right and walks 4 km.
He then again turns right and travels 4 km. Here he meets Rashmi coming from the opposite direction. They both stop here.
18. After taking the first turn, in which direction was Rakshit going?
(A) South (B) North (C) West (D) East
19. If the starting point is marked ‘A’ and the finishing point is marked ‘B’, then what will be the distance between these points?
(A) 10 km (B) 8 km (C) 6 km (D) 2 km
20. From which direction was Rakshit coming after the third turn?
(A) South (B) North (C) East (D) West
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Answers
Exercise-I
1. (D) 2. (C) 3. (A) 4. (A) 5. (D)
6. (C) 7. (B) 8. (D) 9. (B) 10. (D)
11. (C) 12. (D) 13. (B) 14. (D)
Exercise-II
1. (B) 2. (B) 3. (A) 4. (C) 5. (A)
6. (A) 7. (D) 8. (A) 9. (D) 10. (A)
11. (A) 12. (C) 13. (D) 14. (B) 15. (B)
16. (C) 17. (A) 18. (D) 19. (D) 20. (C)
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