JEE Mains 2020: Get your Physics paper sorted with this guide!

Physics for JEE is the first of the (un)Holy Trinity of the three papers. And thus, most of you fear it the most. But here's the thing about Physics, the more you learn, the more you want to know. And it's not technical, just general stuff, but you need to know it. I can rave about my love for it, but that won't help you secure marks in JEE Mains 2020, so I took out some time and researched guides for you to help you revise quickly.

Also, I believe that understanding Physics can be a direct consequence of your understanding of Math. If you face no problems in the latter, then I’m sure the former is the same for you. But, if Math is not your strong suit, therefore, neither is Physics. It’s a causal connection between the two. I’ll discuss a bit for both and since we have exactly a month left to us. And this is also going to be sort of a DIY Crash Course for your JEE Mains 2020 prep.

First up: the schedule.

Many of you might have wondered if your study schedule and timings were better or worse than others. It can be true. I believe that you should decide when you’re going to study a particular thing based on how difficult it is for you. So that means, if you find Physics the easiest, study it at the end of the day. If you find it somewhere in between, study it in the middle of the day. And if you find Physics hard, study it in the morning as the first thing you do.

This hierarchy is related to the brain’s perception and the reaction of a task. In the morning, our minds are fresh from sleep, which means the brain’s receptive capacity is at the highest. This is the time when you study the hardest of things and retain them for a longer amount of time that doing so any other time of the day.

And, if you need a timetable and an overall guide, click here.

Next up: Weighing important topics for JEE Mains 2020

A study of past question paper shows that these topics cover almost 75% of the question paper. They are:

• Vector and Simple Mathematics
• Mechanics
• Electrostatics
• Electricity and Magnetism
• Wave and Optics
• Modern Physics
• Heat and Thermodynamics

And there are some topics that you should focus on for JEE Mains 2020. They are:

• Magnetics
• Thermal expansion
• Newton's Laws of Motion
• Types of Motions

Finally, on the menu is from where to study

In this post, I got you a couple of books and YouTube channels for every subject – only the ones I find to be the best. However, there are many variables in life – maybe a person doesn’t like the pattern or the font. Maybe your friend told you to study with her from some other post; it could be anything. That little niggle is going to drastically ruin your focus and hence willpower to study. Moral of the story is: pick what you like and stick to it. Please.

There are so many places from where you can gather notes from if you need them, or just problems too. One page that gave handwritten notes and I loved them too is this. They are handwritten and you can go through them for revision.

Now, here’s a little checklist for you, so that you don’t lose track of them. You can make your checklist based on this one, or chip in your ideas.

- Variety over Quantity: Study as many topics as possible. Don’t spend too much time on one topic. There are around 30 days left, which gives you roughly a day a topic.

- Study Systematically: You need to follow a pattern, familiarize yourself with that pattern and stick to it religiously.

- Solve as many problems as you can: Practice makes perfect, and there is no better time to remind you of it. And you have no time left to revise anything so just go through problems – as many as possible. Don't try new topics.

- Mock Tests: Mock tests are essential in becoming familiar with the pattern of the paper, which helps you relax and focus on the problems. They’re available on the official site of the JEE and are worth looking into. Also, you can look into National Abhyas Test.

Final words

According to me, the students face the most problems in Physics, Maths and Chemistry, in that order. Therefore, I have picked them in that order. Keep this space bookmarked for the other two.

(Disclaimer: This is an authored article and only suggests ways you can improve your position to secure a decent rank in JEE Mains 2020. The views expressed are the author are personal and does not necessarily reflect the official policy of CIOL.)