With its seemingly never-ending syllabus, Physics is often perceived to be the most daunting and least scoring subject in Science. We are here to debunk that myth. With the right kind of preparation, scoring 95+ in Physics is highly possible and probable.
There are two papers of Physics – Paper 1, which is theoretical, and Paper 2, which is for the practical. In the first of three articles on Paper 1, we will examine the format of the question paper and the division of marks for each unit. It is not possible to study every line in the 1000 page prescribed text. One must study selectively as there are some parts of the text from which questions (almost) never come. There are also certain types of questions which have a standard answering mechanism. The first step towards cracking the paper and optimizing one’s marks given his/ her time constraint is having a clear idea of the structure of the paper.
KEEP IN MIND
· The paper is of 70 marks in total. Reading time is for 15 minutes. After which, writing time is for 3 hours.
· There is no overall choice in the paper. One must attempt the whole paper. There are however internal choices in some of the questions.
· Use of scientific calculator is permitted.
· Unless otherwise specified, always use S. I. Units.
· Don’t forget to write the unit of the solution of a numerical.
· Always label all diagrams.
· Draw arrows for ray diagrams.
· If two vectors have differing magnitudes, ensure that the larger vector has greater length.
FORMAT OF THE QUESTION PAPER
The question paper is divided into 4 sections – A, B, C and D.
Section A:
Question number 1 is of 12 marks. All parts are compulsory. It is further divided into sub parts a and b.
· Sub-part a comprises 5 multiple choice questions of 1 mark each. Generally questions range from application of a simple formula, to solving a numerical, to theoretical concepts.
· Sub-part b comprises 7 questions of 1 mark each. Questions in this sub-part can be arbitrary at times, though the Council tends to repeat questions from previous years’ papers. They range from numericals and statements of laws, to theoretical concepts.
Section B:
Question numbers 2 to 12 carry 2 marks each with 2 questions having internal choice. Questions in this section are generally simple and diverse. One can be asked to draw a diagram, or solve a numerical, or answer a reasoning type question, or state a law, or do a derivation, etc. For questions that can be answered in the form of points, try to give 2 or 3 points, or 4 if each point is very short. For reasoning type questions, ensure that your explanation does not exceed half, or at most, three quarters of a page.
Section C:
Question numbers 13 to 19 carry 3 marks each with 2 questions having internal choice. Like section B, questions here are quite diverse and varied. Again, for questions that can be answered in the form of points, try to give 3 or 4 points, or 6 if each point is very short. For reasoning type questions, ensure that your explanation does not exceed three quarters of a page. If the answer is supplemented with a diagram or graph, then the explanation need not exceed half a page.
Section D
Question numbers 20 to 22 are long–answer type questions and carry 5 marks each. Each question has an internal choice. Generally each question is divided into sub-parts carrying 1 or 2 marks each. As we will elaborate on later, and as per our analysis of previous years’ papers, questions in this section tend to come from specific chapters. They tend to be simple and scoring.
DIVISION OF MARKS FOR EACH UNIT
The course is divided into 10 units.
We hope you found these tips helpful. Good luck and happy studying!
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