A person starts walking towards the west and covers a distance of 15 metres. He then turns right and walks 10 metres. Again he turns right and walks 5 metres, and in the end he turns left and walks 15 metres. In which direction is this person finally facing?

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: North

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
Instead of asking for displacement, this direction sense question asks for the final facing direction of a person after a series of right and left turns. Such questions test whether candidates can track relative turns correctly from any current orientation, not just from north. The actual distances travelled are irrelevant for the final facing direction, but they often appear to distract the learner.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • The person starts by walking 15 metres towards the west.
  • He then turns right and walks 10 metres.
  • Next he turns right again and walks 5 metres.
  • Finally he turns left and walks 15 metres.
  • Every turn is a 90 degree right angle.
  • We must find the direction he is facing after the last movement, not his position.


Concept / Approach:
The key is to trace the sequence of directions in which the person is facing. Distances do not influence the final facing direction, only the turns do. Whenever the person turns right, we rotate his facing direction 90 degrees clockwise; for a left turn, we rotate 90 degrees anticlockwise. By following this sequence from the initial facing direction of west, we determine his final orientation after all turns.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Initially, the person is walking towards the west, so he is facing west. Step 2: He then turns right. From west, a right turn means facing north. Step 3: Walking 10 metres in this direction does not change his facing direction; he continues to face north. Step 4: Again he turns right. From facing north, a right turn leads to facing east. Step 5: He walks 5 metres while facing east and remains facing east at the end of this segment. Step 6: Finally he turns left. From facing east, a left turn leads to facing north. Step 7: He walks 15 metres while facing north, so his final facing direction is north.


Verification / Alternative check:
We can represent the four cardinal directions in order clockwise as North, East, South, West. Each right turn moves one step forward in this list, and each left turn moves one step backward. Starting from West, one right turn takes us to North, another right turn to East, and one left turn brings us back to North. This confirms that, regardless of the distances walked, the final facing direction must be north.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:

  • Option B, South, would require either an odd number of turns leading through east to south or a different starting direction; the given sequence does not support this.
  • Option C, East, would be correct if the last turn had been to the right instead of left.
  • Option D, West, would require a net rotation of zero or a full multiple of 360 degrees, which is not the case here.
  • Option E, North-East, involves a diagonal direction not produced by 90 degree right and left turns in this sequence.


Common Pitfalls:
A typical mistake is to pay unnecessary attention to distances, which may distract from tracking orientation. Another frequent error arises from misinterpreting left and right when facing directions other than north. A simple mental or physical model of the four main directions arranged in order helps to apply rotations correctly and quickly determine final orientation.


Final Answer:
After all the turns, the person is finally facing towards the North direction.

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