Direction Sense Test Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Put A at the starting point E and take the directions as on a map. A walks 2 m north. Turning to the right from facing north means facing east, so A walks 3 m east. A turns right again, from east to south, and walks 2 m south. A has gone 2 m north and 2 m south, so the north south displacement is zero, and A is 3 m east of the start. The direction of A from the starting point is east, option A. North, west and south are not possible because the net movement is only to the east.

Answer: A

The shortest distance from X to his home is 39 km. Take west as the negative east-west direction. Sunny goes 9 km west, turns right (north) and goes 15 km, then turns right again (east) and goes 45 km. Net displacement: 45 - 9 = 36 km east and 15 km north. The straight-line distance is \[\sqrt{36^2 + 15^2} = \sqrt{1296 + 225} = \sqrt{1521} = 39\] The other options are not the length of this hypotenuse: 36 km is only the east-west part.

Answer: C

Place Ram's house at the origin. Ram goes 3 km north, 2 km west, 3 km south and 5 km east, ending 3 km east of his house. Rohan goes 5 km south, 1 km east, 5 km north and 5 km west, so he ends 4 km west of his own start.

\[ x_R - 4 = 3 \Rightarrow x_R = 7 \]

Rohan's house is on the same line as Ram's, at 7 km to the east. So the shortest distance between the houses is 7 km. The options 9, 6 and 5 km do not agree with this meeting point.

Answer: B

Gagan is walking south. Take north as up. He starts walking south for 10 m. Turning left from south he faces east and walks 20 m. A 135 degree turn to the right (clockwise) from east takes him through south to south-west, and he walks 30 m south-west. Turning left from south-west he faces south-east and walks 40 m. A final 45 degree turn to the right (clockwise) from south-east turns him to face south.

North, east and west would need a different turn at one of these steps, for example a left turn at the last step would give east.

Answer: D

Karan ends 3 km north of his starting point. Take the start as (0, 0). West 7 km gives (-7, 0). A right turn from west faces north, so 3 km gives (-7, 3). Another right turn faces east, so 11 km gives (4, 3). A left turn faces north, so 4 km gives (4, 7). Two more left turns face west and then south: 4 km west gives (0, 7) and 4 km south gives (0, 3).

The final point is directly above the start, so the answer is North and 3 km. East and 4 km, South and 3 km and West and 4 km come from mixing up a left and a right turn.

Answer: C

Seema must cover 13 km. Take City L as the origin. J is 5 km east of L, K is 14 km west of J so K is 9 km west of L, and Seema is 3 km west of K, which is 12 km west of L. City M is 5 km north of L. So Seema is 12 km west and M is 5 km north of the same line. The shortest distance is the straight line: the square root of 12 squared plus 5 squared, which is the square root of 169, that is 13 km. The other facts about N, G and H are not needed. 11, 12 and 14 km are not the hypotenuse of a 12 and 5 right triangle.

Answer: B

Suppose Manish started facing some direction d. After the first right turn he faces 90 degrees clockwise from d, after the second right turn he faces 180 degrees from d, and the turn to the left brings him back to 90 degrees clockwise from d. At the end he is moving towards the south, so the direction 90 degrees clockwise from d is south. South is 90 degrees clockwise from east, so d is east. Manish started his journey going east, option (B). Starting north, south or west would leave him facing a different direction in the end.

Answer: A

He is 20 m east of the starting point. In the morning the Sun is in the east, so the first walk is 10 m east. A right turn from east faces south, so he walks 10 m south. A right turn from south faces west, so he walks 10 m west. A left turn from west faces south, so he walks 10 m south. Then 20 m east, and 20 m north. East-west total: \(+10 - 10 + 20 = 20\) east. North-south total: \(-10 - 10 + 20 = 0\). So he is 20 m due east of A. The 20 m west and the 10 m options come from taking a wrong turn direction at one of the turns.

Answer: C

The correct statement is The chemistry lab is to the southeast of physics lab.

The physics lab lies north of 5th Cross Road and west of 1st Main Road, while the chemistry lab lies south of the cross road and east of the main road. Going from the physics lab to the chemistry lab is therefore a move south and east, so the chemistry lab is to its southeast.

The library and the canteen are on the same row, so the library is to the west of the canteen, not the northwest. The hospital is directly north of the chemistry lab, not east of it. The classrooms are in the south-west block and the canteen in the north-east block, on opposite sides of both roads, so they are not next to each other.

Answer: C

The correct statement is The chemistry lab is to the southeast of physics lab.

The Physics Lab is in the north-west block, just above 5th Cross Road and west of 1st Main Road. The Chemistry Lab is in the south-east block, below the cross road and east of the main road. Moving from the Physics Lab to the Chemistry Lab means going both south and east, so the chemistry lab is to the southeast.

The Library and the Canteen are at the same level on either side of the main road, so the library is due west of the canteen, not northwest. The Hospital is north of the Chemistry Lab across the cross road, not east of it. The Classrooms are in the south-west block and the Canteen in the north-east block, separated by both roads, so they are not next to each other.