A person stood alone in a desert on a dark night and wanted to reach his village which was situated 5 km east of the point where he was standing. He had no instruments to find the direction, but he located the polestar. The most convenient way now to reach his village is to walk.

Answer: (c) In the direction keeping the polestar to his left

Walking east, the Pole Star (north) is on your left.

The idea

First locate a fixed direction, then turn the compass mentally to match the direction of travel. Polaris gives approximately north. When facing east, north is on the left; left and right are relative to the observer, not fixed labels on the landscape.

Find Polaris → Mark that direction as north → Picture east at a right angle to north → Turn to face east → Check that north now lies on the left

Why the others are wrong

(a) Facing the Pole Star = walking north.

(b) Away from it = south.

(d) Pole Star on the right = walking west.

The trap

Right/left flip — picture it.

Elimination technique

Walking towards Polaris means north and walking away means south, eliminating (a) and (b). Use the compass orientation to choose between the two side-of-body options.

Also know

When facing south, east is on the left; when facing west, north is on the right. Polaris is useful in the northern hemisphere and is generally below the horizon well south of the equator. A magnetic compass points towards magnetic north, which can differ from true geographic north.