A puppy was trying to find its mother. It was facing east and walked 10 m. It…
2023
A puppy was trying to find its mother. It was facing east and walked 10 m. It then turned south and walked another 10 m. It then turned north and walked 20 m. It then turned west and walked 10 m. Finally, it walked 2 m south. In which direction and how far is the puppy now from its original position?
- A.
60 m north-east
- B.
10 m north-east
- C.
8 m north
- D.
can't be determined
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
In a direction-sense problem, resolve the walk along two independent axes: East-West and North-South, using a sign convention (East and North positive, West and South negative). The final position — and hence the direction and distance from the start — depends only on the NET value on each axis, regardless of how many turns the path takes.
Start at the origin (0, 0), facing East.
Walk 10 m East: position becomes (10, 0).
Turn South, walk 10 m: position becomes (10, -10).
Turn North, walk 20 m: position becomes (10, 10).
Turn West, walk 10 m: position becomes (0, 10).
Turn South, walk 2 m: position becomes (0, 8).
Cross-check by summing each axis independently: East-West legs are 10 m East and 10 m West, which cancel to a net of 0. North-South legs are 20 m North against 10 m + 2 m = 12 m South, giving a net of 20 - 12 = 8 m North. Both methods agree: the puppy ends up 8 m due north of its starting point.
So the puppy is 8 m north of its original position, matching the option that reads 8 m north.