MPESB Group · Bite-size lessons
Direction Sense
About 6 min · Reasoning and Aptitude · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 419 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
Direction Sense is a fundamental topic in the Reasoning and Aptitude section of MPESB Group 1/2/3 exams. These problems test your ability to track movement, orientation, and spatial relationships when a person or object moves through a series of direction changes.
Key ideas
- Cardinal Directions: The four main directions are North (N), South (S), East (E), and West (W). North is always shown at the top in standard diagrams.
- Intermediate Directions: North-East (NE), North-West (NW), South-East (SE), and South-West (SW) lie exactly between cardinal directions at 45° angles.
- Clockwise Order: Moving clockwise from North: N → NE → E → SE → S → SW → W → NW → N. This cycle helps determine results of turns.
- Left Turn Rule: A left turn means rotating 90° counter-clockwise. From North, a left turn faces West. From East, a left turn faces North.
- Right Turn Rule: A right turn means rotating 90° clockwise. From North, a right turn faces East. From South, a right turn faces West.
Watch out for
- Confusing left/right with map directions → Fix: Left/right are relative to the person's current facing direction, not the map. Always track which way the person faces before applying the turn.
- Forgetting to track intermediate positions → Fix: Draw a rough diagram for every problem. Mark each movement with arrows and distances. Never try to solve complex paths mentally.
- Adding distances instead of finding displacement → Fix: Total distance walked ≠ shortest distance from start. The question asks for straight-line distance, which requires considering direction, not just adding all segments.
Quick reference
- Clockwise from North: N → E → S → W → N (each step is a right turn)
- Right turn = 90° clockwise; Left turn = 90° counter-clockwise
- Shortest distance uses Pythagoras: √(a² + b²) for perpendicular displacements
- Morning shadow falls West; Evening shadow falls East
- Always draw diagrams — place North at top, mark each move with arrows
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. A person walks 5 km towards North, then turns right and walks 3 km, then turns right again and walks 5 km. In which direction is he from his starting point?
2. Ramesh starts from his house and walks 10 km towards East. He then turns left and walks 6 km, then turns left again and walks 10 km. How far is he from his starting point?
3. A man is facing North. He turns 45 degrees clockwise, then 180 degrees anticlockwise, and then 270 degrees clockwise. Which direction is he facing now?
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 17 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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