Wednesday 29 June 2016

How to strengthen mechanics for JEE

Hello everyone, Aman here.
Someone posted a comment on the blog, which gave me an idea for a post.
You once posted in your blog that you were initially weak at mechanics then also you qualified for INPhO please elaborate
This points to a good set of questions: {How to be good at X?}

In 2011 when I started JEE preparation, I had a hard time with Physics. Most of it was mechanics. I remember scoring 153/240 in some FIITJEE national test, in which the national highest was 232/240.

The chapters covered in mechanics were:

  • Kinematics
  • Laws of motion
  • Work Power Energy
  • Conservation of Momentum (center of mass)
  • Rotational mechanics
  • Fluid mechanics
  • Wave mechanics
I was miserable at mechanics. I struggled hard to solve problems.
FIITJEE All India Open test 2012: got national rank 6

The million dollar question is 'what did I do that changed things so drastically?'

What made me realize that I was weak at mechanics?
I was unable to perform well in the tests. I often made silly mistakes. It often happened that I had no solution in my mind. All of this made me realize that I suck at Physics (in particular, mechanics)

What did I lack?
I realized that I am facing 2 problems:
  • I do not understand theory adequately
  • I haven't solved enough number of problems
I realized that the 2 problems are connected. I haven't solved enough problems simply because I was unable to solve them! This in turn was because I lacked a proper understanding of theory.

What did I do?
I read theory in great detail from the books. I spent a lot of time reading theory from Resnick Halliday and my coaching notes. The book Resnick Halliday really helped me to understand things in great detail. Which in turn helped me to solve problems. Resnick Halliday has excellent theory. If you feel you are facing problems in Physics, I would recommend the book. It explains things in great detail. The in-text examples will help you think how to approach a problem.
While reading Resnick Halliday, I realized that its not the best book when it comes to problem. It contains problems with long descriptions and I felt that those problems are more of a test of your English than Physics :P
I Googled a bit and found that the Arihant set of 5 books is excellent for Physics. It had good reviews and since I was already using Arihant books for maths, I was sort of convinced that Physics books must also be good. I gave it a try and the books were excellent! If you want to just try, I would recommend you to buy the 2 mechanics books: part 1 and part 2.
Arihant books are excellent for so called 'tips and tricks'. They often contain shortcut tricks that will help you solve problems super fast.
Another thing that I did was that I solved zillions of problems during my summer break after class 11th. In my library of books and study material, I found a package of some local Kanpur coaching which had lots and lots of Physics questions (some 1000 or so) of increasing difficulty. They were all mechanics problems and were objective (JEE pattern). I solved them all in about a week or so. That really gave me a lot of confidence. I developed speed and accuracy and a huge confidence in mechanics.
I am sure you all must be wondering - 'what material was that?'. Well, trust me, it wasn't any magical material. I don't even remember the name. All it had was a bunch of problems (no theory) of JEE pattern. You should really pick up any such material you find from any possible coaching and solve it all.
One last thing that added a 5th star was that I solved complete Irodov mechanics (LOL, that escalated quickly?). Well, yeah. I must say that if you really want a firm command, Irodov is a *must do*. That book is for those who want a challenge. Its for those who already have a strong command. It is strongly recommended that you pick up Irodov *after* you have completed *all* of mechanics. The book contains some problems which assume that you know all of mechanics and so, it would be a bad idea to spend time solving stuff which you haven't even covered (super daring people should go ahead, I am not demotivating you!)

If you look at it, I did nothing special. Just a book reading and solving a bunch of problems. However, if you look at it carefully, you will realize that I solve about 2000 problems overall from 5-6 chapters, which is approximately 350 problems per chapter (starting from a basic book to Irodov level). This should ideally be enough for anyone to start from a 0 and go to INPhO level.

I hope this post will help you all grasp a firm command over mechanics.

All the best!

49 comments:

  1. Isn't reading theory from hc verma and dc Pandey enough?I am having problem is laws of motion.

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    1. 'I am having problem in laws of motion' - that itself suggests that reading theory from HC Verma and DC Pandey isn't enough (for you)

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  3. Hello Aman Sir is it true that jee toppers finish all syllabus in 11th upto when i should complete my syllabus i am preparing for jee 2018

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    1. If top 50 ranker counts as a topper, then no, you are wrong. I finished my syllabus on 31st May 2013 (2 days before JEE)

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    2. Thank you for your reply
      Is classic text series by arihant good for concept strengthening

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  4. Hello bhaiya .... can you please write a article for those who have dropped and have not prepared for jee earlier.. I will appear in jee 2017 and just started my prep from almost scratch...please can you guide

    If there is already such article(except that dropper one written by shobhna di) please share the link thanku

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  6. Hi brother thank you so much for this sincere help bro will you please update more articles on other topics in same manner
    (I mean this is perfect way)

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  7. Aman,I am in class 12.I mostly self study for Jee as I do not have good teachers around.I did HC verma part 1 in class 11.But still I din't feel sufficiently confident.So I picked up Cengage physics and did a chapter completely from it.I felt it was excellent.But the problem is that the Cengage books have way too many problems(like 500 per chapter).Each chapter nearly takes 1-2 months.So would be a better idea to first complete solved examples and theory of all the jee chapters and then come back and again solve the exercises? I'm a bit confused.Because its impossible to do the books completely in a year i think.Can you suggest something?

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    1. You should solve selected problems

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    2. Can you give me some guidelines as how to select problems?I don't have any teacher for JEE so...I hope you understand...

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  8. Dear Aman,..can u plz tell that did u solve each and every single problem in arihant books of physics and maths...or did u solve selected problems?? If so...how....plz.reply soon

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    Replies
    1. Tried HCV?
      If yes, then did you try DC Pandey?

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  10. Bhaiya, did you solve HC Verma in parallel to D C Pandey or did you attempt HCVcompletely and then moved onto D C Pandey?

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  11. Dear Aman,..can u plz tell that did u solve each and every single problem in arihant books of physics and maths...or did u solve selected problems?? If so...how....plz.reply soon.....u didn't reply...so I commented again :(

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  12. Hi aman my quarry is about there are many calculations in physics as well as in chemistry some times it is difficult considering time facror calculating without calculator is sometimes impossible do you have any solution on it

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  13. Which book to b done first hc or dc pandwy or both simulatenously. I heard a guy sayin that u shld first do hcv .he said dcp is a subset of hcv
    Is that true?

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  14. got a problem
    the reso books frm which i m doing dont contain enough explaination .so got advice to finish whole 11th ncert in1-2 month.shld i do this or shld do frm other book instead reso

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  15. Which book to b done first hc or dc pandwy or both simulatenously. I heard a guy sayin that u shld first do hcv .he said dcp is a subset of hcv
    Is that true?

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  16. My organic chemistry is too weak and I got the worst teacher in that who rushes too fast and explaing that we r revising the topic .plz advise how to proceed for organic chemistry

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  17. And final q should resnik halliday b done simultaneously along with school syllabi or to do after 1-2 chapters (topics) get completed

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  20. Hey aman it was a good post have you sold all your books which were for sale or some are left I am really interested in buying them specially the arihant maths series

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  21. Dear Aman,
    Which of the books you mentioned in the post "Must Buy Books For IIT-JEE" can be completed in 11th standard for PCM ??

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  22. Bhaiya can you tell us about how did you keep your mind cool and fresh during the preparation? As it is necessary for giving your best shot in phase tests and also the JEE...

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  23. Bhaiya can you tell us about how did you keep your mind cool and fresh during the preparation? As it is necessary for giving your best shot in phase tests and also the JEE...

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  24. Hey Aman , I just wanted to thank you , dhruv , karan & shobhna for all the support shown by you all , in my jee preparation through this blog .A BIG THANKS !! - Tushar Chaudhary ( Air - 983 , jee advanced 2016 took electrical engineering power automation at IIT DELHI , my dream branch at my dream place !) Sorry if I have posted it at the wrong place .THANKS ....

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  25. Hey Aman,
    How many times during my JEE preparation should I solve the mainstream books like HC Verma, DC Pandey, TMH, etc. to get a decent rank (specifically under 100) ?
    Thanks

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  26. It take how much to complete all this u said?

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  27. It take how much to complete all this u said?

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  28. Mentioning your personal experiences like "solving 1000 problems in a week" is proficient.This makes it more productive.Keep writing this kind of stuffs.This is motivating as well as paramount at the same time.
    Thanks.

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  29. Can anyone suggest any good book for relative motion. I have done hcv but still not feeling confident while solving problems.

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  30. Can anyone suggest any good book for relative motion. I have done hcv but still not feeling confident while solving problems.

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    1. for relative motion.
      1)observe the world around you
      2)read ncert textbook
      3)read halliday
      4)go &get hcv
      5)cengage

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  31. Thanku so much sir for inspiring so many of us..We all definitely know that we can look up to you for any sort of help that we need and ull always be there ready with ur valuable words of wisdom :)

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  32. Aman bhaiya , I m doing fiitjee, east delhi. I am weak in kinematics though i
    Have done HCV and package completely yet i m not able to solve Archive and problems related to it . Want help badly ...

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  33. which order you read and solve books, I mean before a topic is taught in coaching you study with which book , after coming to your house how you utilise your coaching notes , from which books you solve first and from which book you read additional theory.

    Can you please give us a subject wise ( physics, chemistry maths) order of solving and reading ooks

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  34. The resnick and halliday book which you mentioned is it good for theory?. Many people say that the authors of that book have explained in an imaginative way with respect to their country, united states.

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  35. Aman bhaiya...you always said you believe in quality study rather than quantity study...so on an average during class 12 how man problems did you solve each day?

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  37. Bhaiya I also have the same problems in mechanics as you had. I wanted to ask you about which version of resnik halliday you preferred- seventh version of resnik halliday walker or indian version by smit gupta?? Please guide me. Someone is suggesting super course in physics by Pearson .. . I am a non attending jee aspirant 2020.

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  38. Which Resnick Hallisay the Krane one or the Walker one.... Please tell

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