Introduction to Direction Sense

Direction Sense

Direction sense questions test how well you track movement and turns. Always start by drawing a small sketch with North at the top.

The eight directions

• Main directions: North (N), South (S), East (E), West (W)
• In-between directions: North-East (NE), North-West (NW), South-East (SE), South-West (SW)
• Opposite pairs: N–S, E–W, NE–SW, NW–SE

Turning rules

• Right turn = 90° clockwise: N → E → S → W → N
• Left turn = 90° anticlockwise: N → W → S → E → N
• A 180° turn always makes you face the opposite direction.
• A 45° turn takes you to an in-between direction (e.g. N + 45° clockwise = NE).

Distance: Pythagoras shortcut

If a person walks a km in one direction and then b km at a right angle, the shortest distance from the start = √(a² + b²). Remember the triplets 3-4-5, 6-8-10, 5-12-13.

Shadows and the sun

• The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
• In the morning, shadows fall towards the West; in the evening, towards the East.

Worked example

Ram walks 3 km East, then 4 km North. Distance from start = √(9 + 16) = 5 km, and he is North-East of the start.

Exam tips (RRB NTPC)

• Draw every step; do not solve in your head.
• Note which way the person is facing after each turn, not only where they are.
• Net displacement: add all North–South movement and all East–West movement separately.

Analogy

Imagine you are the driver of a train standing in the engine cabin, facing forward. Whatever is in front of your windscreen is the direction you "face". When the track curves right, the whole cabin swings clockwise; when it curves left, it swings anticlockwise — the direction you face changes, even though you have not moved inside the cabin.

A station map on the platform always has North at the top — that is why we draw our sketch the same way. And if the train goes 3 km East and then 4 km North on a straight track, a crow flying directly from the first station to the last would cover only 5 km — the shortest (diagonal) path.