Ankit started walking towards North. After walking 30 meters, he turned towards left and walked 40 meters. He then turned left an…

Question

Ankit started walking towards North. After walking 30 meters, he turned towards left and walked 40 meters. He then turned left and walked 30 meters. He again turned left and walked 50 meters. How far is he from his original position?

1. A. 50 meters
2. B. 40 meters
3. C. 30 meters
4. D. 10 meters (Correct answer)

Correct Answer

Option D — 10 meters

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is 10 meters.

Key Points

• Trace the path: 30 m North, then left is West for 40 m, left again is South for 30 m, left again is East for 50 m.
• North and South cancel exactly: 30 − 30 = 0.
• East and West leave 50 − 40 = 10 m East of the start, so the distance is 10 metres.

Additional Information

• Successive left turns rotate the heading anticlockwise: North → West → South → East → North.
• Because the north-south movement cancelled, the answer is a simple subtraction. Had a leg been left over in both directions, the distance would be the hypotenuse, found by Pythagoras.
• Sketching the path is faster and far less error-prone than tracking directions mentally.