Direction & Distance
🔒 Log in to trackCompass-walking puzzles: multi-leg journeys with left/right turns, questions on the shortest distance back, the direction faced, the endpoint's bearing from the start, and shadow-based facing. Everything reduces to two signed running totals plus one Pythagoras step, and most answers are 3-4-5 multiples. Shadow questions add one conversion line (morning shadow West, evening shadow East). A written trace of headings and components turns the whole topic into bookkeeping.
One page per subtopic: detailed notes, every question type, formulas, tricks and practice sets.
Every formula on one printable page, grouped by subtopic.
4 exam-level questions worked step by step.
53 questions — untimed practice or a timed test with analysis.
Track record in the exam
Questions per shift in recent SSC CGL papers.
Test difficulty mix (53 questions)
Question patterns exams keep repeating
Taken from previous-year papers. If a pattern is marked "very common", expect to see it in your exam.
Shortest distance from the start
very commonA person walks along north-south and east-west lines, and you must find how far he is from the start.
Cancel opposite moves and find the net east-west and north-south distance.
Use Pythagoras and look for 3-4-5 or 5-12-13.
A man walks 9 km East, then 12 km North. How far is he from the start?
The two legs make a right angle
9² + 12² = 81 + 144 = 225
√225 = 15
Answer: 15 km
Distance walked
common'How much distance did he cover?' for a path with turns.
Distance walked = add all the legs.
Distance from the start is a different thing (the straight line).
A man walks 3 km East, 4 km North, then 3 km West. How much distance did he cover?
Add all the legs
3 + 4 + 3
The straight distance from the start would be only 4 km
Answer: 10 km
Direction faced after turns
very commonA person faces some direction, then makes left and right turns.
Draw the turns one by one.
A left turn goes anticlockwise, a right turn goes clockwise.
Facing South, a man turns left, left and left again. Which way is he facing now?
Facing South, left turn → East
Left turn → North
Left turn → West
Answer: West
Direction of the end point from the start
very common'In which direction is he from the starting point?'
Find the net east-west and north-south move.
If one of them is zero, the answer is one single direction.
A man walks 3 km South, 3 km East, then 3 km North. In which direction is he from the start?
North-south: 3 South and 3 North cancel out, so 0
East-west: 3 East
He is straight East of the start
Answer: East
Shadow direction
commonTime of day and where a person's shadow falls.
Morning: the sun is in the East, so shadows fall West.
Evening: the sun is in the West, so shadows fall East.
In the evening, a man's shadow falls in front of him. Which way is he facing?
In the evening the sun is in the West
So the shadow falls towards the East
The shadow is in front, so he faces the same way as the shadow
Answer: East
Two people walking
very commonTwo people walk from one place, and you are asked their distance or direction.
Find the place of each person from the start.
Use the difference between their places for the distance and direction.
A walks 4 km North and 3 km East. B stays at the start. In which direction is A from B?
B is at the start
A is 3 km East and 4 km North of the start
As both are non-zero, it is a combined direction
Answer: North-East