Direction Sense
About 7 min · Reasoning Ability · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 458 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
Direction Sense is a fundamental topic in reasoning ability that tests your spatial awareness and ability to track movement across compass directions. The topic requires no complex calculations—just careful tracking of turns and distances.
Key ideas
- Eight cardinal and ordinal directions: North (N), South (S), East (E), West (W), and the four intermediate directions—North-East (NE), North-West (NW), South-East (SE), South-West (SW). The angle between any two adjacent directions is 45°.
- Opposite directions: N↔S, E↔W, NE↔SW, NW↔SE. If you face North and turn 180°, you face South.
- Right and Left turns from each direction: From North—right turn gives East, left turn gives West. From East—right turn gives South, left turn gives North. Memorise the clockwise sequence: N→E→S→W→N.
- Sunrise and Sunset orientation: Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. If your shadow falls to your right in the morning, you are facing South.
- Shadow rule for time: Morning shadow falls towards West (sun in East). Evening shadow falls towards East (sun in West). At noon, shadow is minimal/directly below.
Watch out for
- Confusing "direction faced" with "direction from starting point": When asked "which direction is the starting point from current position," students often give the opposite. If you are East of start, the starting point is West of you.
- Forgetting to reset after 360°: After four right turns (or four left turns), you face the original direction. Students sometimes continue adding turns incorrectly.
- Mixing up left-right based on current facing direction: A right turn from South takes you West, not East. Always determine your current facing direction before applying the turn.
Quick reference
- Clockwise from North: N → E → S → W → N (each step is a right turn)
- Morning shadow points West; evening shadow points East
- Shortest distance formula: √(x² + y²) for perpendicular displacements
- Right turn = clockwise 90°; Left turn = anti-clockwise 90°
- Always draw a rough diagram—never solve direction problems mentally
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. A man walks 5 km towards North, then turns right and walks 3 km, then again turns right and walks 5 km. How far is he from the starting point?
2. Ramesh starts from his home and walks 40 m towards South. He then turns left and walks 30 m, then turns left again and walks 40 m. Finally, he turns right and walks 20 m to reach his office. What is the shortest distance between his home and office?
3. A person walks 12 km towards North from point A. Then he turns 90 degrees clockwise and walks 5 km to reach point B. He then walks in a straight line from B back to A. What is the total distance covered by him?
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 18 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.
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