Start here · the first lesson of Shadow / sunrise based direction
Shadow / sunrise based direction
Direction Sense · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT
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The idea
The Sun fixes a direction: in the morning it is in the east, so shadows point west; in the evening it is in the west, so shadows point east. Knowing which side of a person the shadow falls tells you which way they face. Book and coaching sets use it often; Rohtak has asked direction items in this style.
Textbook vs exam method
Textbook method
Draw the person facing up the page, mark where the shadow falls (front, behind, left, right), and rotate the drawing until the shadow points west (morning) or east (evening). The person's heading can then be read off.
Exam method
- Fix the shadow's compass direction: morning west, evening east.
- Convert the side to a heading: front = the shadow's direction; behind = opposite; left = 90° clockwise of the shadow's direction; right = 90° anticlockwise.
- If a second person faces the first, reverse the heading. Then apply any further turns.