CA Foundation · Quantitative Aptitude · Direction Tests
Meera walks 12 km towards the north, then turns right and walks 5 km, and then stops. What is the shortest distance between her starting point and her final position?
The shortest distance is 13 km. Walking 12 km north and then 5 km east forms a right-angled triangle, so the straight-line displacement is the square root of 144 plus 25, which is 13 km. The 17 km figure is only the path length walked.
- A7 km
- B13 kmCorrect
- C17 km
- D11 km
Explanation
Her north leg (12 km) and east leg (5 km) are perpendicular, so the displacement is the hypotenuse: sqrt(12^2 + 5^2) = sqrt(169) = 13 km. Option 17 km is the total distance walked, not the shortest distance. Option 7 km wrongly subtracts the legs.
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