Ankit walks 3 km towards the south, turns left and walks 6 km. Then he turns towards north and walks 5 km. Again he turns towards west, walks 4 km and stops for a while. Then he further walks 2 km. How far is he from his starting position?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → 2 km
Step-by-Step Movement Analysis:
To solve direction-based problems, it is helpful to track the movement on a 2D coordinate plane (North-South as the y-axis, East-West as the x-axis).
- Start: Let the starting position be $(0, 0)$.
- Move 3 km South: New position is $(0, -3)$.
- Turn Left (East) and walk 6 km: New position is $(6, -3)$.
- Turn North and walk 5 km: * Current y-coordinate is $-3$. Moving 5 km North: $-3 + 5 = +2$.
- New position is $(6, 2)$.
- Turn West and walk 4 km:
- Current x-coordinate is $6$. Moving 4 km West: $6 - 4 = 2$.
- New position is $(2, 2)$.
- Walk further 2 km West:
- Current x-coordinate is $2$. Moving another 2 km West: $2 - 2 = 0$.
- Final position is $(0, 2)$.
Final Calculation:
- Starting Position: $(0, 0)$
- Ending Position: $(0, 2)$
The distance between the start and the end point is the difference in the y-coordinates:
$2 - 0 = 2 \text{ km}$
Ankit is exactly 2 km North of his starting position.