Direction and Distance
Tracking a path across the compass: turns relative to the current facing, net displacement north-south and east-west, straight-line distance by the Pythagorean rule, and the sunrise and sunset shadow trick.
What you will be able to do
- Apply a left or right turn relative to the direction currently faced.
- Reduce a walk to its net north-south and east-west displacement.
- Compute straight-line distance from the two net displacements.
- Use the sunrise and sunset shadow rule to fix an unknown facing.
What is inside this lesson
- 1The compass
- 2Turns are relative to the current facing
- 3Net displacement
- 4Straight-line distance
- 5Shadows at sunrise and sunset
- 6Worked example
- 7Common mistakes
- 8Practice
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The compass
North is up, south is down, east is right, west is left, with north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west in the corners. Going clockwise the order is north, east, south, west, back to north.
A direction question gives someone a start point and a run of moves and turns. Your job is to plot the path, then answer either how far they are from the start or which direction they now face. Draw it on paper; almost no one gets these right in their head.
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