Chapter 6 of 14

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SSC CGL General Intelligence & Reasoning★ Tier 1: 1–2 Q (2–4 marks) · Tier 2: 1–2 Q (3–6 marks)

Direction and Distance

1–2 questions per tier — walks with turns, shadows, and shortest distances. The entire topic is one discipline: plot every move on a small compass-grid sketch, then read the answer off the drawing. Pythagoras finishes the job.

⏱ 15 min readEasy difficulty✓ Free · exam-pattern aligned

Timed practiceMCQs from this chapter with instant scoring

FlashcardsFormulas & traps on spaced repetition

SSC CGL PYQsSolved previous-year questions

By the end of this chapter you'll be able to…

1Plot walk-and-turn paths on a compass grid, tracking the walker's facing after every turn
2Convert paths to coordinates (north +y, east +x) and compute net displacement with Pythagoras
3Handle rotation questions by counting 45° steps clockwise or anticlockwise, netting multiple rotations first
4Solve shadow questions from two facts: morning shadows point west, evening shadows point east
5Recognise the standard distance patterns (3–4–5, 6–8–10, d√2) and treat ugly roots as plotting-error alarms

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Why this chapter matters in SSC CGL

Direction sense is a guaranteed-accuracy topic for anyone who draws and a coin-flip for anyone who doesn't. SSC engineers the paths so that one mis-tracked 'left' lands exactly on a listed wrong option — 90° off or mirror-imaged. The compass-sketch habit costs 15 seconds and makes the topic essentially unmissable, which matters in a section where every 2-mark question saved funds the harder puzzles.

Before you start — revise these

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Non-Verbal Reasoning

Mental rotation and mirror discipline — the same spatial care that keeps left/right from flipping.

Direction and Distance — SSC CGL Reasoning

Direction questions punish exactly one thing: solving in your head. Three turns in, "left" has silently become your left instead of the walker's left, and the answer is 90° wrong — with that wrong answer waiting in the options. The method is non-negotiable: draw the compass once, plot every move, read the result.

1. What SSC actually asks

Tier 1: 1–2 Q · Tier 2: 1–2 Q. Four types: walk-and-turn paths ("walks 5 km south, turns left…"), net displacement ("how far and in which direction from the start?"), shadow questions (morning/evening sun), and rotation questions ("turns 135° anticlockwise…"). Occasionally a clock-dial rotation appears in Tier 2.

2. The compass and the two golden rules

        N
   NW       NE
 W             E
   SW       SE
        S

Rule 1 — turns are the walker's, not yours. Facing south, a left turn goes east. Track the walker's current facing after every move; write it beside each leg.

Rule 2 — 45° steps for rotations. Clockwise from north: N → NE → E → SE → S → SW → W → NW (45° each). Count steps: 135° clockwise from north = 3 steps = south-east.

3. Net displacement: the coordinate habit

Treat the start as $(0, 0)$ : north $= + y$ , east $= + x$ . Add each leg, then:

$distance = x^{2} + y^{2}$

Most answers are 3–4–5 or 6–8–10 triangles or a tidy $d 2$ (from equal perpendicular legs). If you get $47$ , re-plot — you mis-tracked a turn.

Example: 40 m south, 20 m west, 20 m north → net $(x, y) = (- 20, - 20)$ → $202$ m south-west.

4. Shadow questions: two facts only

Morning (sunrise): sun in the east → shadows fall west.
Evening (sunset): sun in the west → shadows fall east.
(Noon: sun overhead — shadows are shortest, falling north in India.)

Then it is pure relative direction: morning, the pole's shadow falls to Gopal's right → shadow points west, west is his right → facing south.

5. Solved PYQ-style examples

Q1. A walks 3 km north, then 4 km east. How far is he from the start? Solution. $3^{2} + 4^{2} = 5$ km (north-east of start).

Q2. Ram walks 5 km south, turns left and walks 3 km, turns left and walks 5 km. In which direction is he from the start? Solution. South 5 → (facing south) left = east 3 → left = north 5. Net: $(3, 0)$ → due east.

Q3. Facing west, a man turns 45° clockwise, then 180°, then 270° anticlockwise. Which direction does he face now? Solution. Net rotation $= + 45 + 180 - 270 = - 45°$ (i.e., 45° anticlockwise from west) → south-west.

Q4. One morning after sunrise, the shadow of a pole fell exactly to Gopal's right. Which direction was Gopal facing? Solution. Morning shadow points west. West on his right → facing south.

Q5. B is 5 km east of A; C is 5 km north of B; D is 5 km south of C. How far and in which direction is D from A? Solution. D lands exactly on B → 5 km east. (Plot it — the north and south legs cancel.)

6. Exam protocol

Draw the compass cross in the margin before reading the path — N up, every time.
Write the walker's facing after each turn; "left/right" always belongs to the walker.
Convert the path to coordinates and expect Pythagorean triples; an ugly root means a plotting error.
Shadows: morning → west, evening → east. Fix the shadow's absolute direction first, then resolve left/right.
These are 40-second questions once drawn — and coin-flips if you don't draw. Always draw.

Key formulas & results

Everything to memorise for the exam hall, in one card. Screenshot this for revision.

Net displacement

d = x^{2} + y^{2}, x = net east, y = net north

Expect 3–4–5 / 6–8–10 triples or d√2; anything ugly means re-plot.

Rotation steps

4 5^{\circ} = one compass step; clockwise: N \to N E \to E \to S E \to S \to S W \to W \to N W

Net out multiple rotations (add clockwise, subtract anticlockwise) before stepping.

Shadow facts

morning: shadow \to west; evening: shadow \to east

Sun rises east, sets west; the shadow points away from the sun. Noon shadows (India): short, northward.

Turn resolution

facing S: left = E, right = W; facing W: left = S, right = N

Left/right belong to the WALKER's current facing — re-derive after every turn.

SSC CGL test series

Ready to be tested on this?

Direction and Distance shows up in every SSC CGL paper — sit a timed one and find out where you actually stand.

1–2Qs in Tier 1

Mediumpriority

Full SSC CGL mocks, real clock
General Intelligence & Reasoning-only sectionals & chapter tests
All-India rank + topic-level analysis

Free forever · solver-verified questions

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Traps SSC CGL sets — and how to dodge them

These are the exact option-traps and misreads that cost marks under negative marking.

WATCH OUT

✗ Applying 'left' and 'right' from the reader's viewpoint instead of the walker's.

✓ After each leg, write the walker's new facing. Facing south, left = east — the reversal from your bird's-eye view is exactly what the question bets on.

WATCH OUT

✗ Solving three-turn paths mentally.

✓ Plot every leg. SSC calibrates path lengths so one lost turn lands on a listed option; the sketch removes the failure mode entirely.

WATCH OUT

✗ Reversing shadow directions — morning shadow east.

✓ The shadow points AWAY from the sun: morning sun east → shadow west; evening sun west → shadow east. Two facts, no derivation.

WATCH OUT

✗ Answering distance travelled when the question asks displacement (or vice versa).

✓ 'How far did he walk' = sum of legs; 'how far FROM the starting point' = straight-line Pythagoras. Read which one is asked before computing.

WATCH OUT

✗ Stepping rotations one at a time and losing count across mixed cw/acw turns.

✓ Net the rotation arithmetic first (+ clockwise, − anticlockwise), then apply one final rotation in 45° steps.

WATCH OUT

✗ Giving only the distance when the question asks distance AND direction.

✓ Read the coordinates' signs for the direction quadrant: (−20, −20) = south-west. Half-answers match half-right options.

Exam-pattern practice

PYQ-style questions with full solutions. Work through them as a readiness check — mark yourself honestly and get your gap report at the end.

Readiness check

Are you exam-ready for Direction and Distance?

10 problems from this chapter. Try each one, reveal the worked solution, mark yourself honestly — get your gap report at the end.

10 questions~7 min

5-minute revision

The whole chapter, distilled. Read this the night before the exam.

•Draw the compass cross first — N up, every question
•Left/right belong to the walker; re-derive facing after every turn (facing S: left = E)
•Coordinates: north +y, east +x; displacement = √(x²+y²)
•Expect 3–4–5, 6–8–10 or d√2 answers; ugly roots = re-plot
•Rotations: net the arithmetic first, then count 45° compass steps
•Morning shadow → west; evening shadow → east; noon (India) → short, north
•Distance walked = sum of legs; distance FROM start = straight line — read which is asked
•Direction answers need the quadrant from coordinate signs: (−,−) = south-west

SSC CGL question blueprint

How this topic is asked, tier by tier — so you can prep to the pattern.

Typical weightage: 10

Question style	Marks each	Typical count	What it tests
Tier 1 — walk-and-turn, simple displacement	2–4 (1–2 Q × 2 marks)
Tier 2 — rotations, shadows, longer paths	3–6 (1–2 Q × 3 marks)

Prep strategy

Make the compass sketch an unconditional habit for one practice week
Drill the two shadow facts and the walker's-left rule as flashcards
Practise 10 paths converting to coordinates and spotting triples
Do one set of rotation chains netting the angles before stepping

Exam-hall strategy

Battle-tested tips from mentors and toppers for this topic under the sectional clock.

Sketch compass + path for anything beyond two legs; write the facing beside each turn.
Convert to coordinates the moment a 'how far' appears; look for the Pythagorean triple.
Shadows: fix the shadow's absolute direction first (morning-west / evening-east), then resolve the person's facing.
Answer BOTH parts when distance and direction are asked — half-answers are among the options.
40 seconds with a sketch; if a path exceeds six legs, plot carefully — those are Tier-2's version of hard.

Beyond the exam

Where this skill shows up in the job you're competing for — and in life.

Navigation without GPS

Dead reckoning — tracking heading and distance per leg — is exactly the coordinate habit, used by hikers, sailors and pilots when instruments fail.

Site and survey work

Field surveys log bearings and distances leg by leg and close the traverse with Pythagoras — a direction-and-distance question at professional scale.

Robotics and games

Turtle graphics, robot odometry and game character movement all maintain (x, y, facing) — the same three variables the margin sketch tracks.

Where else this topic is tested

Prepare once, score in every exam that asks it.

SSC CHSL1–2 Q — same path types

SSC CPO2 Q — shadows appear often

IBPS PO / Clerk1–2 Q — often merged into puzzle sets

RRB NTPC1–2 Q — shorter paths

📝 My notes

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Questions aspirants ask

Pulled from the Q&A community and mentor sessions.

Usually 1–2 per tier. Walk-and-turn paths dominate; shadow and rotation variants rotate in and out across shifts.

Two legs, maybe not; three or more, always. The failure mode isn't complexity — it's a single silently flipped 'left'. The sketch costs 15 seconds and removes the only way to lose these marks.

SSC avoids noon ambiguity in most questions, but the fact set: at noon the sun is nearly overhead, shadows are shortest, and in India (north of the Tropic of Cancer for most of the year) they point north.

Equal net legs in perpendicular directions give d√2 diagonals. Net the coordinates first; if |x| = |y|, the answer is |x|√2 in the diagonal direction of the signs.

Do the signed arithmetic first: clockwise positive, anticlockwise negative. One net angle, then count 45° steps around the compass once. Stepping each rotation separately is where miscounts happen.