Direction and distance questions

Reasoning Updated 11 Oct 2026

These direction and distance questions train you to track turns, compass points and shortest distances, a topic that appears in almost every SSC, bank, railway and placement reasoning paper. Each question has four options, a single correct answer and a worked explanation.

The page is arranged by type: simple turning questions, distance from the starting point, shadow based questions, relative position and changed direction names, and harder multi-step questions. Every answer has been worked out by plotting the moves on a grid.

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Direction sense: turning questions (easy)

Q1. Rahul is facing North. He turns 90 degrees to his right. Which direction is he facing now?
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Answer: C. East
A right turn is clockwise: North + 90 degrees clockwise = East.
Q2. Meena is facing East. She turns left twice, 90 degrees each time. Which direction is she facing?
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Answer: A. West
East turned left once is North, and North turned left again is West.
Q3. A man facing South turns 135 degrees clockwise. Which direction does he face now?
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Answer: D. North-West
South is 180 degrees on the compass; 180 + 135 = 315 degrees, which is North-West.
Q4. Ajay is facing West. He turns 90 degrees anticlockwise. Which direction is he facing?
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Answer: B. South
Anticlockwise from West (270 degrees) by 90 degrees gives 180 degrees, which is South.
Q5. A girl facing North-East turns completely around (180 degrees). Which direction is she facing?
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Answer: C. South-West
An about turn gives the opposite direction, and the opposite of North-East is South-West.
Q6. Facing North, Ravi turns 90 degrees clockwise, then 180 degrees, then 90 degrees anticlockwise. Which direction does he face?
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Answer: B. South
North to East (90 clockwise), East to West (180), West to South (90 anticlockwise).
Q7. Priya is facing East. She turns 45 degrees anticlockwise. Which direction is she facing?
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Answer: D. North-East
East is 90 degrees; 90 - 45 = 45 degrees, which is North-East.
Q8. A man facing North-West turns 135 degrees anticlockwise and then 90 degrees anticlockwise. Which direction is he facing?
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Answer: A. East
North-West is 315 degrees; turning 225 degrees anticlockwise in total gives 315 - 225 = 90 degrees, which is East.

Distance and direction questions (medium)

Q9. Sonu walks 10 km towards North and then 6 km towards South. How far is he from his starting point?
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Answer: C. 4 km
He goes 10 km north and comes back 6 km, so he is 10 - 6 = 4 km north of the start.
Q10. Asha walks 3 km East and then 4 km North. What is the shortest distance between her and the starting point?
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Answer: A. 5 km
The two paths are at right angles, so distance = square root of (3 x 3 + 4 x 4) = square root of 25 = 5 km.
Q11. A man walks 8 km North, turns right and walks 6 km. How far is he from the starting point?
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Answer: D. 10 km
After turning right from North he walks East; distance = square root of (64 + 36) = 10 km.
Q12. Kavita walks 5 km South, turns left and walks 3 km, then turns left again and walks 5 km. Where is she from the starting point?
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Answer: B. 3 km East
South 5, left to East 3, left to North 5: the north and south walks cancel, leaving her 3 km East of the start.
Q13. Arjun walks 20 m East, turns right and walks 10 m, then turns right and walks 20 m. Where is he from his starting point?
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Answer: C. 10 m South
East 20, right to South 10, right to West 20: the east and west walks cancel, so he is 10 m South of the start.
Q14. Facing North, Neha walks 12 m, turns left and walks 5 m. How far is she from the starting point?
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Answer: B. 13 m
She is 12 m north and 5 m west of the start; distance = square root of (144 + 25) = 13 m.
Q15. A cyclist rides 6 km West and then 8 km South. How far is he from the starting point in a straight line?
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Answer: A. 10 km
The paths form a right angle, so distance = square root of (36 + 64) = square root of 100 = 10 km.
Q16. Ramesh walks 15 km North and then 15 km East. In which direction is he from the starting point?
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Answer: D. North-East
He is an equal 15 km north and 15 km east of the start, so he is exactly North-East of it.
Q17. Mohan walks 30 m South, turns left and walks 40 m, turns left and walks 30 m, then turns right and walks 10 m. Where is he from the starting point?
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Answer: B. 50 m East
South 30, East 40, North 30 (back to the start line), then East 10: he is 40 + 10 = 50 m East of the start.
Q18. A boy walks 9 m East, 5 m North, 3 m West and then 3 m North. What is his shortest distance from the starting point?
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Answer: C. 10 m
Net east = 9 - 3 = 6 m and net north = 5 + 3 = 8 m, so distance = square root of (36 + 64) = 10 m.

Shadow based direction questions

Q19. At sunrise, Ram stands facing the Sun. In which direction does his shadow fall?
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Answer: D. West
The Sun rises in the east, so a shadow in the morning always points west, behind a person who faces the Sun.
Q20. One morning, Seema's shadow falls exactly to her right. Which direction is she facing?
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Answer: A. South
In the morning the shadow points west. If west is on her right, she must be facing South.
Q21. In the evening, Vikas notices that his shadow falls exactly to his left. Which direction is he facing?
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Answer: A. South
In the evening the Sun is in the west, so the shadow points east. If east is on his left, he is facing South.
Q22. In the evening, Kiran walks straight towards her own shadow. In which direction is she walking?
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Answer: D. East
An evening Sun in the west throws shadows towards the east, so walking towards the shadow means walking East.
Q23. In the morning, Arun sees his shadow directly in front of him. Which direction is he facing?
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Answer: C. West
Morning shadows point west, so a shadow in front of him means he is facing West, with the Sun behind him.

Relative position and changed direction questions

Q24. Town A is 5 km North of town B, and town C is 5 km East of town B. In which direction is A from C?
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Answer: B. North-West
Taking B as the origin, A is at (0, 5) and C at (5, 0); from C, A is 5 km west and 5 km north, which is North-West.
Q25. P is 4 km South of Q and R is 4 km West of Q. In which direction is P from R?
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Answer: D. South-East
With Q at the origin, P is at (0, -4) and R at (-4, 0); from R, P is 4 km east and 4 km south, which is South-East.
Q26. X is 10 km East of Y, and Z is 10 km South of X. In which direction is Z from Y?
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Answer: B. South-East
From Y, Z is 10 km east and 10 km south, equal distances, so Z is South-East of Y.
Q27. If North is called East, East is called South and South is called West, what will West be called?
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Answer: A. North
Each direction is moved 90 degrees clockwise. West turned 90 degrees clockwise becomes North.
Q28. If South-East becomes North, North-East becomes West and so on, what will West become?
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Answer: C. South-East
South-East (135 degrees) to North (0 degrees) is a 135 degree anticlockwise turn; West (270 degrees) minus 135 gives 135 degrees, which is South-East.

Hard direction and distance questions

Q29. Facing North, Suresh walks 10 m, turns right and walks 5 m, turns right and walks 15 m, then turns left and walks 10 m. How far East of the start is he, and how far South?
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Answer: D. 15 m East, 5 m South
North 10, East 5, South 15 (5 m below the start), then East 10: he ends 5 + 10 = 15 m East and 15 - 10 = 5 m South.
Q30. Lata walks 6 km North, turns right and walks 8 km, then turns right again and walks 12 km. How far is she from her starting point?
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Answer: B. 10 km
She ends 8 km east and 12 - 6 = 6 km south of the start; distance = square root of (64 + 36) = 10 km.
Q31. A man walks 2 km North, turns right and walks 2 km, turns right and walks 2 km, then turns left and walks 2 km. Which direction is he facing at the end?
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Answer: A. East
His headings are North, East, South and then East again after the final left turn from South.
Q32. Starting from a point, Anil walks 5 km East, turns left and walks 10 km, turns left and walks 15 km, and turns left again and walks 10 km. Where is he from the starting point?
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Answer: C. 10 km West
Net east-west: 5 - 15 = -10 (10 km West); net north-south: 10 - 10 = 0. So he is 10 km West of the start.
Q33. Deepa walks 4 m South, turns right and walks 3 m, turns right and walks 8 m, then turns right and walks 3 m. How far and in which direction is she from the starting point?
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Answer: B. 4 m North
South 4, West 3, North 8, East 3: east-west cancels and 8 - 4 = 4 m, so she is 4 m North of the start.

How to prepare

The safest method is to draw a quick sketch. Put the starting point at the centre, mark North at the top, and draw each move as a line. Remember that a right turn is clockwise and a left turn is anticlockwise, whatever direction you are facing. Keep a running total of net east-west and net north-south movement; walks in opposite directions cancel.

For the final distance, use Pythagoras on the net movements: distance = square root of (east-west squared + north-south squared). Learn common triples such as 3-4-5, 5-12-13, 6-8-10 and 8-15-17 to answer instantly. For shadow questions, remember that the morning shadow points west and the evening shadow points east.

Study tips

Always draw a rough diagram with North at the top before choosing an answer.
Track net east-west and net north-south distance separately, then combine them with Pythagoras.
Treat compass directions as degrees (North 0, East 90, South 180, West 270) to solve turning questions quickly.

Questions people ask

How do I solve direction and distance reasoning questions quickly?

Draw the path on a rough grid, cancel walks in opposite directions, and use Pythagoras on what is left. With practice most questions take under a minute.

Is a right turn always clockwise?

Yes. Whichever way a person is facing, turning right is a clockwise turn and turning left is an anticlockwise turn. So a person facing South who turns right ends up facing West.

How are shadow questions solved in direction reasoning?

In the morning the Sun is in the east, so shadows fall towards the west; in the evening shadows fall towards the east. Use this along with left and right to find which way the person is facing.

What are the eight directions used in reasoning?

The four main directions are North, East, South and West, and the four in-between ones are North-East, South-East, South-West and North-West. Each in-between direction is 45 degrees from the main directions next to it.

Are these questions useful for SSC and bank exams?

Yes. Direction sense appears regularly in SSC CGL, CHSL, bank PO and clerk, and railway exams. The difficulty here ranges from easy to the multi-step questions seen in mains papers.

Every question on this page is written and fact-checked by the GK Quizzes team. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it. How we make our questions.