Sumanth walks 200 feet straight from his house, which faces north, so he moves towards the north. Then he walks 100 feet in the reverse direction towards the south. After this he takes a left turn and walks 300 yards in that new direction. In which direction is Sumanth now located with respect to his original position at his house?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: North-East

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This question is about relative direction after a series of movements. Sumanth starts from his house, which is facing north, and walks forward, then backwards, and finally turns left and walks again. We need only the final direction of his position relative to the starting point, not the exact distance. Such questions are common in direction sense tests and require careful attention to current facing direction before interpreting left or right turns.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Sumanth's house faces north and he initially walks 200 feet straight towards the north.
  • He then walks 100 feet in the reverse direction, which is towards the south.
  • After that, he takes a left turn from his then facing direction.
  • He walks 300 yards in this new direction, which is effectively a long move but only direction matters.
  • We assume standard mapping of directions: north, south, east, and west with perpendicular relationships.


Concept / Approach:
We must track both his current position and the direction he is facing at each stage. Moving forward and then backward along the same straight line will partially cancel, leaving a smaller net displacement along the north south axis. The crucial step is to interpret the left turn correctly from the direction he is facing just before turning. The long final movement defines the horizontal component that will decide whether he is to the east or west of his starting point.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Assume Sumanth starts from point O, which is his house.Step 2: His house faces north, so walking 200 feet straight means moving 200 feet north to point A. He is now 200 feet north of O and facing north.Step 3: He then walks 100 feet in the reverse direction, which is towards the south, returning part way towards O. After this, he is 200 − 100 = 100 feet north of O and facing south.Step 4: Now he takes a left turn from facing south. When facing south, left corresponds to east.Step 5: He walks 300 yards in the eastward direction. Since this final move is entirely towards the east, his final position is significantly east of O and still 100 feet north of O.Step 6: Therefore, relative to his original position at O, Sumanth is to the north east.


Verification / Alternative check:
We can visualise the path on a simple grid. Starting at O, he first goes up (north), then partially back down (south), ending slightly above the original point. The final long leg is horizontal to the right (east). Combining a small north displacement and a large east displacement clearly places him in the north east quadrant with respect to O. The exact distances, including the conversion of yards to feet, are not needed to determine direction, only their signs and relative orientation matter.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
If he were in the south east, he would have to end up south of his starting point, which is impossible because his net north south displacement leaves him north of O. Similarly, south west and north west would require final westward displacement or net southward displacement at some stage, which does not happen here. Pure east is not correct because he is also north of O by 100 feet. Only north east captures the correct combination of being north and east of the starting point.


Common Pitfalls:
A typical mistake is to treat left and right turns as absolute east or west directions rather than relative to the current facing direction. Another error is to ignore the reverse movement and assume that travelling 200 feet north dominates completely, which would misplace his final position. Drawing a quick sketch with arrows for each move and labelling intermediate orientations will greatly reduce errors in these kinds of problems.


Final Answer:
After all the movements, Sumanth is towards the North-East of his original position at his house.


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