GENERAL APTITUDE

Distance and Directions

Ms. Kalpa Naik

Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
PG & UG DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY,GCASCK.
 Distance and directions
Problems based on distance and direction is meant
to judge the candidate's ability to trace the
direction correctly and solve the final direction or
the distance between two points correctly. The
diagram given below shows the four main
directions (cardinals) and the four subsidiary
directions on a plane of paper to help the
candidate know the way of directions.
 Points to remember:-

1. A person facing towards North, on taking left turn will face towards
West and on taking the right turn towards the East. Left turn means
anticlockwise rotation and right turn means clockwise rotation.
2. Each turn mentioned in the question has a numerical equivalent of
90°.
3. In order to determine the distance travelled or the shortest straight
distance between the two given points, the Pythagoras formula can
be used.

h² = b² + p²,
where, h = Hypotenuse, p= Perpendicular and b = Base.
4. If two persons (or vehicles) start at the same time from two points A and B
towards each other and after crossing, they take x and y units of time in
reaching B and A respectively, then
Speed of first = √y/x
Speed of second
Solved Questions
Examples
1. One morning after sunrise, Vimal started to walk. During this walking he
met Ajay who was coming from: opposite direction. Vimal watch that the
shadow of Ajay to the right of him (Vimal). To which direction Vimal was
facing?
Sol: Sun rises in the east. So the shadow of a man will always fall towards the
west. Since the shadow of Ajay is to the right of Vimal. Hence, Vimal is
facing towards the South.
2. The length and breadth of a room are 8 m and 6 m respectively. A cat runs
along all the four walls and finally along a diagonal order to catch a rat.
How much total distance is covered by the cat?
Sol:

Required distance 8+6+8+6+ √8² +6=28+ √100=28+10= 38 m.

3. If the hand watch of Ravi reads 4:30 and if the minute hand points East then
in what direction will the hour hand point?
Sol:

It is clear that, to show 4:30, the position of the minute and hour hands of
the clock will be as shown in figure. Hence, if the minute hand points East,
the hour hand will point in the North-east.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Practice set
1. Manisha walked 40 metres towards North, took a left turn and walked 20
metres. She again took a left turn and walked 40 metres. How far and in
which direction is she from the starting point?
a. 20 metres West
c. 20 metres North
b. 20 metres East
d. 20 metres South

2. Qadir travels towards the East. Mona travels towards the North. Sanjay
and Tina travel in opposite directions. Tina travels towards right of Qadir.
Which of the following is definitely true?
a. Mona and Sanjay travel in opposite directions
b. Sanjay travels towards West
C Tina travels towards North
d. Mona and Sanjay travel in the same directions
3. Versha walks 20 km in West and then 20 km to the left. Now every time
turning to her right, she walks 10, 30 and 30 km respectively. How far is she
now from her starting point?
a. 30 km
b. 40 km
c. 10 km
d. 20 km

4.Pradeep starts walking straight towards east. After walking 75 m he turns to

the left and walks 25 m straight. Again he turns to the left and walks a
distance of 40 m straight, again he turns to the left and walks a distance of
25 m. How far is he from the starting point?
a. 140 m
b. 115 m
c. 35 m
d. 25 m
ALL THE BEST