LOGICAL REASONING

Direction Sense — UPSC CSAT Previous Year Questions

Practice UPSC CSAT previous year questions from 2011–2026 classified underDirection Sense. Review the original question, four options, correct answer and explanation for every PYQ.

16Total PYQs
2011–2026Years
1Subtopics

Direction Sense

16 questions • 2011–2026

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Question 1
UPSC CSAT 2026Direction, Distance & Turns

A person facing the East travels 4 km straight and then turns right and travels 3 km, then further turns left and travels 2 km and finally turns left and travels 3 km. The minimum distance between the final point and the initial point, and the direction in which the person is facing at the final point are, respectively

A12 km, East
B6 km, East
C8 km, North
D6 km, North
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerD
Explanation

Coordinates end at 6 km east and 0 km north of the start. The final facing direction after East→South→East→North is North. Hence D.

Question 2
UPSC CSAT 2024Direction, Distance & Turns

A person walks 100 m straight from his house, turns left and walks 100 m, again turns left and walks 300 m, then turns right and walks 100 m to reach his office. In which direction does he walk initially from his house if his office is exactly in the North-East direction?

ANorth-West
BWest
CSouth
DSouth-West
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerC
Explanation

Work backwards from the office position. If the initial direction is south, the subsequent left-left-right turns place the office northeast of the house. Hence the initial direction is South.

Question 3
UPSC CSAT 2024Direction, Distance & Turns

A person walks 100 m Westward, then turns left and walks 100 m. He then takes 225° turn clockwise. In which direction is he walking now?

ASouth-West
BSouth-East
CNorth-West
DNorth-East
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerD
Explanation

Facing west, a left turn makes the direction south. A 225° clockwise turn from south points northeast.

Question 4
UPSC CSAT 2022Direction, Distance & Turns

Two friends X and Y start running and they run together for 50 m in the same direction and reach a point. X turns right and runs 60 m, while Y turns left and runs 40 m. Then X turns left and runs 50 m and stops, while Y turns right and runs 50 m and then stops. How far are the two friends from each other now?

A100 m
B90 m
C60 m
D50 m
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerA
Explanation

Take the common starting direction as east. After the first 50 m, X's two turns place him 60 m north and then 50 m west; Y's turns place him 40 m south and then 50 m west. Their horizontal positions coincide and their vertical separation is 60+40=100 m.

Question 5
UPSC CSAT 2021Direction, Distance & Turns

Images of consonants of the English alphabet (Capitals) are observed in a mirror. What is the number of images of these which do not look like their original shapes?

A13
B14
C15
D16
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerC
Explanation

There are 21 consonants. H, M, T, V, W, X and Y are vertically mirror-symmetric, leaving 14 whose mirror images differ.

Question 6
UPSC CSAT 2021Direction, Distance & Turns

A bank employee drives 10 km towards South from her house and turns to her left and drives another 20 km. She again turns left and drives 40 km, then she turns to her right and drives for another 5 km. She again turns to her right and drives another 30 km to reach her bank where she works. What is the shortest distance between her bank and her house?

A20 km
B25 km
C30 km
D35 km
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerB
Explanation

Track the net displacement after each turn; the final point is 20 km west and 15 km south of the start, giving sqrt(20^2+15^2)=25 km.

Question 7
UPSC CSAT 2021Direction, Distance & Turns

A woman runs 12 km towards her North, then 6 km towards her South and then 8 km towards her East. In which direction is she from her starting point?

AAn angle less than 45° South of East
BAn angle less than 45° North of East
CAn angle more than 45° South of East
DAn angle more than 45° North of East
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerB
Explanation

Net displacement is 6 km north and 8 km east. Since the east component is larger, the direction is less than 45° north of east.

Question 8
UPSC CSAT 2020Direction, Distance & Turns

A man walks down the backside of his house straight 25 metres, then turns to the right and walks 50 metres again; then he turns towards left and again walks 25 metres. If his house faces to the East, what is his direction from the starting point?

ASouth-East
BSouth-west
CNorth-East
DNorth-west
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerD
Explanation

Facing east means the backside is west. From the starting point he goes west, then turns right (north), then left (west), ending northwest.

Question 9
UPSC CSAT 2016Direction, Distance & Turns

A person X was driving in a place where all roads ran either north-south or east-west, forming a grid. Roads are at a distance of 1 km from each other in a parallel. He started at the intersection of two roads, drove 3 km north, 3 km west and 4 km south. Which further route could bring him back to his starting point, if the same route is not repeated?

A3 km east, then 2 km south
B3 km east, then 1 km north
C1 km north, then 2 km west
D3 km south, then 1 km north
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerB
Explanation

After the first three legs his net position is 3 km west and 1 km south of the start. The only listed continuation that returns exactly to the origin is 3 km east followed by 1 km north.

Question 10
UPSC CSAT 2016Direction, Distance & Turns

A person climbs a hill in a straight path from point ‘O’ on the ground in the direction of north-east and reaches a point ‘A’ after travelling a distance of 5 km. Then, from the point ‘A’ he moves to point ‘B’ in the direction of north-west. Let the distance AB be 12 km. Now, how far is the person away from the starting point ‘O’?

A7 km
B13 km
C17 km
D11 km
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerB
Explanation

Resolve the two diagonal movements into components. The east-west components differ by 7/√2 and the north components add to 17/√2; the resulting distance is √338/2=13 km.

Question 11
UPSC CSAT 2016Direction, Distance & Turns

A person walks 12 km due north, then 15 km due east, after that 19 km due west and then 15 km due south. How far is he from the starting point?

A5 km
B9 km
C37 km
D61 km
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerA
Explanation

The 12 km north and 15 km south leave a net 3 km south; 19 km west after 15 km east leaves 4 km west. The displacement is √(3²+4²)=5 km.

Question 12
UPSC CSAT 2015Direction, Distance & Turns

Shahid and Rohit start from the same point in opposite directions. After each 1 km, Shahid always turns left and Rohit always turns right. Which of the following statements is correct?

AAfter both have travelled 2 km, the distance between them is 4 km.
BThey meet after each has travelled 3 km.
CThey meet for the first time after each has travelled 4 km.
DThey go on without ever meeting again.
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerB
Explanation

After the first kilometre they move in opposite directions; after the next turns they move toward parallel perpendicular paths, and after the third kilometre their paths bring them to the same point.

Question 13
UPSC CSAT 2015Direction, Distance & Turns

In a plane, line X is perpendicular to line Y and parallel to line Z; line U is perpendicular to both lines V and W; line X is perpendicular to line V. Which one of the following statements is correct?

AZ, U and W are parallel.
BX, V and Y are parallel.
CZ, V and U are all perpendicular to W.
DY, V and W are parallel.
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerD
Explanation

From X⊥Y and X⊥V, Y∥V; from U⊥V and U⊥W, V∥W. Hence Y, V and W are parallel.

Question 14
UPSC CSAT 2014Direction, Distance & Turns

Consider the following statements: There are six villages A, B, C, D, E and F. F is 1 km to the west of D. B is 1 km to the east of E. A is 2 km to the north of E. C is 1 km to the east of A. D is 1 km to the south of A. Which three villages are in a line?

AA, C, B
BA, D, E
CC, B, F
DE, B, D
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerB
Explanation

Using the stated east/west/north/south positions, E, B and D are collinear.

Question 15
UPSC CSAT 2014Direction, Distance & Turns

Location of B is north of A and location of C is east of A. The distances AB and AC are 5 km and 12 km respectively. The shortest distance (in km) between the locations B and C is

A60
B13
C17
D7
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerB
Explanation

B and C form the legs of a right triangle with lengths 5 and 12, so BC = 13 km.

Question 16
UPSC CSAT 2011Direction, Distance & Turns

The houses of A and B face each other on a road going north-south, A’s being on the western side. A comes out of his house, turns left, travels 5 km, turns right, travels 5 km to the front of D’s house. B does exactly the same and reaches the front of C’s house. In this context, which one of the following statements is correct?

AC and D live on the same street.
BC’s house faces south.
CThe houses of C and D are less than 20 km apart.
DNone of the above
View Answer & Explanation+
Correct AnswerC
Explanation

Tracing the two symmetric movements from opposite sides places C and D at positions less than 20 km apart; option C is the stated relationship.

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