Direction Sense
Coding & Sequencing: Direction Sense
Direction Sense
Direction Sense
What you will learn
- How to track which way a person is facing after turning right or left.
- How to work out the straight-line distance from a starting point after walking in two directions at a right angle.
- How to follow multiple turns in a row and find the final direction.
Key concepts
Level 1 — Simple turns
Verbal: Directions go in a clockwise circle: North -> East -> South -> West -> North.
Rule: Turning right by 90 degrees moves one step clockwise in this order. Turning left by 90 degrees moves one step backward (anticlockwise).
| Facing | Turn | New facing |
|---|---|---|
| North | Right 90 deg | East |
| East | Left 90 deg | North |
| North | Right 180 deg | South |
Level 2 — Distance after a right-angle walk
Verbal: If someone walks in one direction, then turns a right angle (90 degrees) and walks again, the straight line back to the start forms the third side of a right triangle.
Useful triples: (3,4,5), (6,8,10), (5,12,13) - if the two walked legs match two numbers of a triple, the straight-line distance is the third number.
Level 3 — Multiple turns
Verbal: Apply each turn one at a time, updating the facing direction step by step, rather than trying to guess the end result directly.
Worked example
A person faces North and turns right 90 degrees, then right 90 degrees again. Which way now?
Step 1 - North, turn right 90 -> East
Step 2 - East, turn right 90 -> South
Answer: South
A person walks 3 km North, then 4 km East. Find the straight-line distance from the start.
Step 1 - The two legs (3 km and 4 km) meet at a right angle
Step 2 - Use the 3-4-5 triple: straight-line distance = 5 km
Answer: 5 km
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why it happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Mixing up right and left turns | Not fixing the clockwise order in mind | Remember: right = clockwise, left = anticlockwise |
| Adding the two legs instead of using the triple | Thinking distance walked equals straight-line distance | Straight-line distance is shorter - use the Pythagorean triple |
| Losing track during multiple turns | Trying to do all turns in one step | Update direction one turn at a time |
| Forgetting 180 degree turns reverse direction fully | Treating all turns as 90 degrees | A 180 degree turn faces the exact opposite direction |
Quick check
- A person faces South and turns left 90 degrees. Which way now?
- A person walks 6 km East then 8 km North. What is the straight-line distance back to start?
- What is the opposite direction of West?
- Stretch: A person faces East, turns right 90 degrees, then left 180 degrees. Which way is the person facing now?
Revision tip: Draw a small compass (N, E, S, W) and physically trace each turn with your finger.
Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Direction Sense.
Key Takeaways (TL;DR)
- What you will learn
- Key concepts
- Worked example
- Common mistakes
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