Trends in Physics for IIT JEE

The level of difficulty of questions in IIT JEE over the recent years has come down considerably, primarily due to starting of objective type papers. There were times when the students could selectively leave some of the units and still get selected in the IITs, but in recent years the overall cutoff has risen steadily over the years, meaning the student has to attempt successfully more and more questions now, and a complete coverage of all the topics is now advisable. This becomes more so important in view of recent papers from 2009-2011, in which topics like Rotation, Optics or Modern Physics sometimes got a very heavy weightage, and were nearly absent the other times. So the unpredictability of the JEE has added to the need of covering the whole syllabus in detail.

Even then, as you can see in the accompanying table, there are certain portions in physics which maintain a consistent weightage, topics like SHM, Properties of Matter, Waves, Heat and Thermodynamics, and finally Electricity & Magnetism (E&M). The best thing with these topics is that the questions are not generally as difficult as in Mechanics, and the syllabus of these units, except E&M, takes lesser time relatively to complete. Hence students must ensure that they put sufficient time studying these topics, and try to score maximum in these in the examination. These units provide more marks in less hardwork in JEE.

This is, though, not to lessen the importance of covering the whole syllabus for JEE nowadays. As mentioned earlier, in these times of easier and unpredictable JEE, only those students can now think of getting into the prestigious IITs who develop command over the whole syllabus.

Tips for cracking the various types of questions being asked in IIT JEE

1. General: As the JEE has undergone changes many a times in recent years, it is very much advisable that the student never overlook the instructions, as a changed instruction may affect their overall score. Students should also use guess work in the questions where there is no negative marking. Also, they should not get stuck with a problem if it is not getting solved, or if it involves too much calculation. Such problems should be left only to come back to those again later if the time permits. Finally, students should never leave the filling of circles in OMR sheets to the last minutes, they should, after every 10-20 questions, darken the circles. There are many students at the exam who fail to darken all the attempted answers due to last minute haste.

2. Single Correct Answer- These questions are of the easier type, but the problem occurs when the student, inspite of the simple nature of the question, commits a calculation mistake. Students should practice very well the calculations since the easier questions many a times involve slightly longer calculations. If the answers in the options are different by a huge margin, they can also use approximation to shorten the calculation steps.

3. Multiple Correct Answers- These questions, though prima facie appearing simple, are not easy and sometimes formed to stimulate the student to tick the wrong option in haste. This is why students find it difficult to score well in this section. They should read all the options carefully and be doubly sure about their choices. They should also keep in mind that these questions may have only one or even all the options as correct.

4. Paragraph Type- The general tip is that first glance through the questions and then read the paragraph. Yes, in a reverse way! When the relevant lines come in the paragraph your brain will be extra alert to read those. Generally students once read the paragraph, then come to the questions, and then again read the relevant paragraph lines. Having the questions in mind will save you the time to visit the paragraph once again.

5. Integer Type: Some of the answers may not come as a perfect integer, like an answer of 7.1 may confuse the student that he is wrong, but this much approximation is sometimes seen in JEE. Also, do remember that in case of double digits integer, an answer of 7 should be entered as 07.

6. Matrix Match Type: Again this type is much feared by the students, and there is also generally confusion in the minds of students about the instructions to answer these questions. The best way is to practice a lot of such questions so that you develop an idea where mistakes are committed in these questions. Remember, success in IITJEE depends not only on how much you have read, but also on how much you have practiced.