MH Police Bharti · Bite-size lessons
Direction Test
About 6 min · Intellectual Test (Reasoning) · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 438 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
Direction Test is a core reasoning topic in the Maharashtra Police Bharti exam that evaluates your ability to track movement and determine final positions or distances. These problems simulate real-world navigation scenarios — essential skills for police personnel who must mentally map locations during patrolling, pursuit, or crime scene analysis.
Key ideas
- Eight Cardinal & Ordinal Directions: North (N), South (S), East (E), West (W) are cardinal. North-East (NE), North-West (NW), South-East (SE), South-West (SW) are ordinal/intermediate — positioned at 45° between cardinals.
- Clockwise Turn Order: N → NE → E → SE → S → SW → W → NW → N. A 90° clockwise turn from North gives East; anticlockwise gives West.
- Left and Right Depend on Current Facing: "Turn right" means 90° clockwise from your current direction; "turn left" means 90° anticlockwise. If facing South, turning right makes you face West.
- Opposite Directions: N↔S, E↔W, NE↔SW, NW↔SE. If someone faces North and turns 180°, they now face South.
- Shadow and Sun Rules: Morning sun rises in East, so shadow falls West. Evening sun sets in West, so shadow falls East. At noon (overhead sun), shadow is minimal/directly below.
Watch out for
- Confusing left/right with fixed directions → Left and right are relative to the person's current facing direction, not the diagram. Always update the facing direction after each turn before applying the next instruction.
- Forgetting to convert 270° turn → A 270° clockwise turn equals 90° anticlockwise. Students often miscalculate large angles. Remember: 270° right = 90° left.
- Ignoring net displacement → When movements include opposite directions (North then South), students calculate total distance walked instead of net displacement. Always subtract opposite movements.
Quick reference
- Clockwise from North: N → E → S → W → N (90° each step)
- Opposite pairs: N↔S, E↔W, NE↔SW, NW↔SE
- Right turn = clockwise 90°; Left turn = anticlockwise 90°
- Morning shadow = West; Evening shadow = East
- Distance from start = √(net vertical)² + (net horizontal)²
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. Ramesh walks 5 km towards North. Then he turns right and walks 3 km. Again he turns right and walks 5 km. In which direction is he from his starting point?
2. A man is facing West. He turns 45 degrees clockwise, then 180 degrees anticlockwise and finally 90 degrees clockwise. In which direction is he facing now?
3. Priya walks 10 m towards South, then turns left and walks 15 m. She then turns left again and walks 10 m. Finally, she turns right and walks 5 m. How far and in which direction is she from her starting point?
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 21 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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