SSC CHSL · Bite-size lessons

Direction and Distance

About 7 min · General Intelligence and Reasoning · English

Time worked out from the lesson's 524 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.

These questions test your ability to visualize movement in two dimensions using compass directions (North, South, East, West and their combinations) and calculate distances using basic geometry.

Key ideas

• Compass conventions: North is always "up," South "down," East "right," West "left" on paper. Northeast lies 45° between North and East; similar for NW, SE, SW. Never assume left/right means compass direction—it's relative to the person's current facing.
• Displacement vs. distance: Distance is the total path length traveled; displacement (shortest distance) is the straight-line distance from start to finish. Always use Pythagorean theorem for displacement: d = √(x² + y²) where x and y are net horizontal and vertical movements.
• Coordinate method: Treat the starting point as origin (0,0). Assign +y for North, –y for South, +x for East, –x for West. After all movements, sum x-components and y-components separately to find final coordinates, then calculate distance.
• Turn interpretation: "Turns left" or "turns right" depends on current facing direction. If facing North and turning right, you face East. If facing South and turning right, you face West. Draw an arrow for the person's facing direction at each step.
• Final direction from start: After plotting final position (x_f, y_f), determine quadrant: x_f > 0, y_f > 0 → NE; x_f < 0, y_f > 0 → NW; x_f < 0, y_f < 0 → SW; x_f > 0, y_f < 0 → SE. Exact compass direction uses tan(θ) = y_f / x_f if needed.

Watch out for

• Confusing left/right with compass directions: "Turns left" is relative to current facing, not absolute. If facing South, turning left means facing East, not West. Always track the facing direction separately.
• Adding distances instead of components: Students add 3 km N + 4 km E = 7 km for shortest distance. Wrong—use Pythagoras: √(3² + 4²) = 5 km. Never sum path lengths for displacement.
• Sign errors in coordinate method: Forgetting that South is negative y and West is negative x. Write South = –y and West = –x at the top of your rough work every time.

Quick reference

• Coordinate signs: North = +y, South = –y, East = +x, West = –x
• Shortest distance formula: √(x² + y²) where x, y are net horizontal and vertical displacements
• Right turn from North: N → E → S → W → N (clockwise)
• Direction quadrants: (+x, +y) = NE, (–x, +y) = NW, (–x, –y) = SW, (+x, –y) = SE
• Shadow direction: Morning shadow → West, Evening shadow → East

Check yourself: 3 questions

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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