Direction Sense: Shadows, Turns and Shortest Distance

Turns

Facing North: a right turn → East, left turn → West. A 180° turn reverses direction. Track each turn on a small compass drawing.

Shortest distance (Pythagoras)

If a person walks 3 km East and 4 km North, the shortest distance from start is √(3² + 4²) = 5 km. Common triplets: 3-4-5, 5-12-13, 6-8-10, 8-15-17.

Shadow questions

At sunrise the sun is in the East, so shadows fall to the West. In the evening shadows fall to the East. At noon there is almost no shadow.

Net displacement

Add all East–West moves together and all North–South moves together, then combine with Pythagoras.

Exam tips

1. Always draw — mental tracking causes errors.
2. Final direction is asked from the start point to the end point, unless stated otherwise.

Analogy

Direction sense is like steering a boat with a compass on the deck. Every turn rotates the boat, but the compass never moves — North stays North. Keep your eyes on the fixed compass, not on the boat.