How do I prepare for inorganic chemistry for the JEE Advanced?

One of the most difficult topics for JEE Main and JEE Advanced is that of Inorganic Chemistry. Not only is it extremely important, but also this topic can make or break your JEE rank. It is a critical topic and many students take it for granted and skip it. That’s where an opportunity lies for a good student. Let’s go one by one and see how can we prepare for Inorganic Chemistry for JEE Advanced.

Study Material:

1. By far, the best study material for Inorganic Chemistry for JEE Advanced is nothing but the textbooks we take for granted - NCERT. In JEE, especially in JEE Advanced, it has been seen that many times, question paper setters have picked up a line or two from NCERT and made questions around it. Therefore, it becomes extremely important to study NCERT cover to cover. NCERT is especially important when it comes to p-block elements. The book covers a lot of topics exhaustively.

2. Preparing NCERT well is more-or-less good for all spectrum of ranks in JEE, especially in JEE Advanced. Having said that, there would always be a few questions that would go beyond the NCERT level and so, some additional preparation would be required. I studied these additional topics from JD Lee. JD Lee is a fat book and might look extremely overwhelming. However, almost half of that book is irrelevant for JEE. If you are aiming for a top 500 or so rank, I’d definitely suggest studying from JD Lee. Having said that, make sure that you only focus on topics that are in the JEE Advanced syllabus. You can find the JEE Advanced syllabus on the official website.

3. Specifically for Qualitative Analysis, I studied a book called Vogel’s Qualitative Analysis. It is a great book and contains a bunch of equations and scenarios. Having said that, some 40% of the book is not relevant from the JEE Advanced perspective. So, if you plan to pick this book, make sure to stick to the JEE Advanced syllabus only, or else you might overwhelm yourself with irrelevant content.

Apart from these books, I thoroughly studied the material provided to me by FIITJEE. A large part of the material overlapped with NCERT. But the good part about the FIITJEE material was that it contained a bunch of practice problems. Apart from the FIITJEE material, my chemistry teacher also gave me Resonance Kota’s material. It was quite good and quite exhaustive. I think a mix of NCERT + JD Lee + Vogel + Material from one of the reputed coaching institutes would suffice. Make sure to pick up the study material that contains a lot of practice problems also.

For practice, I used the following:

1. FIITJEE Packages

2. FIITJEE GMP - excellent problems!

3. FIITJEE RTPF

4. OP Tandon Inorganic Chemistry - this book, like JD Lee, contains a lot of material that is not relevant for JEE Advanced. Having said that, at a broad level, it is quite a good book, especially when it comes to practice problems.

5. Resonance Rank Refiner - FIITJEE material at times goes beyond the JEE level. Resonance Rank Refiner contains a bunch of great JEE level problems that are at par with what you can expect on the JEE Advanced day.

I think overall the FIITJEE material is tailored to be a little difficult and meant for those who have the potential of getting a top 1000 rank. On the other hand, resonance material is meant for those who want to get a rank in the range of 1000 to 5000. So, both materials have their own benefits. Depending on your preparation and competency level, you can decide to pick one of them or both of them. I always prepared for a top 50 rank and I felt that I had the potential to achieve the same. So, I picked up both. Also, because I attended a dummy school in classes 11th and 12th, I had a lot of time to study from 2 different materials.

Strategy to study Inorganic Chemistry:

1. A large portion of Inorganic Chemistry revolves around equations and chemical formulae that one needs to memorize. At times, that becomes overwhelming because of the large sea of syllabi. Therefore, it is important for you to plan and strategize around how would you study Inorganic Chemistry efficiently to not get frustrated.

2. The most important advice I’d give to aspirants for Inorganic Chemistry is to ensure that you do not leave it for the last few months and rather prepare it bit-by-bit throughout the 2 years. The syllabus is so huge that it cannot be done in a few months. I personally hated memorization and it took me a lot of time to cram the equations and formulae involved in Inorganic Chemistry and so, I budgeted a sizeable amount of time to prepare Inorganic Chemistry.

3. It takes a lot of conscious effort to memorize something. Over time, I learned a simple memorization trick - read the same content every day. Like really. Let’s say, there are 6 chapters in total. You might require a couple of months to complete all of these chapters initially and that’s totally fine. However, once you’ve gone through these chapters, understood the content, solved a lot of problems, and got good marks in exams, what becomes difficult is to not forget these chapters.

For this, the simple technique is to read these chapters daily. Pick up 2 chapters, and read them on Monday. Pick the next 2 and read them on Tuesday. Repeat. Because you already have spent a couple of months studying these chapters, you essentially have to “maintain” them rather than study them from scratch. So, “reading” 2 chapters a day should not take more than 30 - 45 minutes. When you are “reading” these chapters again and again and again, your mind will eventually memorize the content in a “visual” format, and on the exam day, it would be extremely easy to recall the equations and formulae. Try this technique on 2 - 3 pages of p-block elements, and do let me know if it works for you.

4. For Qualitative Analysis, one has to not only memorize the equations and formulae but also colors. The chapter is full of exceptions and so, at times the colors are counter-intuitive. A simple trick for this chapter is to buy pencil colors and color the compounds in your notebook with the same color. Once you’ve done that, apply the technique in point #3 above. After going through the equations 3 - 4 times, you’d realize that the color has settled in your “visual” memory. You’d be able to recall that on page 72 of the book on the bottom left, there was a red-colored compound.

Overall, I’d say that Inorganic Chemistry is a game of patience more than effort and intelligence. The best way to “win” over Inorganic Chemistry is to study deeply once and then repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat so as to “maintain” the memory. Don’t over-think. Don’t get frustrated. Repeat, repeat and repeat.

All the best!

Other articles:

1. Organic Chemistry

2. Physical Chemistry

3. Best books

4. All the blog posts

Revise class 11th parallel to class 12th

The post will be useful for the following :

• JEE 2015 aspirants (those who are entering class 12th this year)
• JEE 2016 aspirants (those who are entering class 11th this year)

How to revise ? One of the most difficult question a JEE aspirant has to face.

How should I revise class 11th syllabus parallel to class 12th ? - I will try to answer this question in this post

Different methods are suitable for different subjects.

Some people would prefer revising from books. Others are comfortable with revision packages.

We will go subject wise :

Revising Maths : Keep solving as many questions as you can. This is the best way to revise maths. It has a number of benefits, most important one being - you won't forget formulas. Additionally, if you are prone to forgetting the formulas, then you should maintain a notebook enlisting all the important formulas in a clear and concise form so that you can go through them quickly in a very short time. Note that you have to prepare the notebook in such a way that you can go through it in a very short time. The reason is that - it's boring to revise the same old formulas if it takes a lot of time. However, if they are written in concise form, then you will be able to revise them more number of times. A better option would be (what I did) to write the formulas in an A4 sheet and carry it with you always. So that you can go through it when ever you have time.

Reading the entire topic again and again from a book would be waste. If you have already covered a topic well, then to revise - the best choice would be to solve problems. For this, you may pick up anything - FIITJEE GMP / TMH / your own coaching material / revision packages. The point is that you should try fresh questions. Also note that you should remember standard questions that have a hidden trick so that you can co-relate it to some other question.

The key to learning maths is solving problems

Revising Physics : I would take up chemistry in the end because it needs more description. Class 11th physics mainly involves mechanics and thermodynamics. The plan would be almost same as that of maths - solve as many problems as possible from the revision packages / books. Additionally, you need to revise the theory portion in physics. For that, I would suggest reading HC Verma. HC Verma is very important from the point of theory. There are small hidden theoretical points that are usually overlooked by students and then these points are asked in More than one correct type questions in JEE. So, it's better to give this book a quick reading over the weekend.

To solve questions, I would prefer revision packages over books because they contain objective type questions that are in accordance to the current JEE pattern. I was from FIITJEE so, I used to solve FIITJEE workbooks, Review package, GMP(I got it from my centre at the end of class 11th itself), and of course HC Verma.

Revising Physical Chemistry : Physical chemistry is more like physics. So the approach would be same as that of physics - read books, solve questions. I would suggest reading NCERT so as to cover all the minute theoretical points that are commonly picked up. Basically NCERT will do the job of HC Verma (for theory). To solve problems, I used same material as given in physics section. Additionally, I solved subjective (solved) examples of RC Mukherjee to develop a deep thinking and a better command over the topic.

Revising Inorganic Chemistry : It is highly likely that you did nothing in inorganic chemistry except chemical bonding. When I say inorganic chemistry, I mean s-block and p-block. Now is the time to do it. You can easily prepare it if you spend just 1 hour a day - 15 minutes revision and 45 minutes mugging new things. Read read and read - nothing more. Inorganic is all about revision and cramming (with sometimes logical thinking as well).

Revision plan :

Now I will be answering the question - "How to balance revision + backlogs + current chapters"

There are 24 hours in a day. Assuming that you sleep 8 hours a day, you are left with 16 hours. Now you might dump another 3 hours in your daily work like eating, bathing, etc. So you are left with another 13 hours. Assuming that you need 3 hours of relaxation, finally you are left with 10 hours - That's a God damn huge amount of time!!!

10 hours a day

Now, let's plan it in our way.

We need around 2 hours per subject daily to progress in that subject. So, this way, 6 hours are gone. We are left with 4 hours, or rather 4 study hours (note that we have counted 3 hours of relaxation and 3 hours extra already). Assuming that you are spending 1 hour with inorganic chemistry, you are left with 3 hours.

Now in these 3 hours, you will be doing 2 things - 

• covering previous chapters in which you are weak
• Revising the previous chapter

Both of them cannot be done in a single day usually.

So, you might plan to cover your left out weak topic say on Monday and you may do the revision the next day - and repeat this.

Monday - cover weak topic

Tuesday - revise

Wednesday - cover weak topic

Thursday - revise

.

.

.

.

Now you might be thinking that how to plan all this on coaching days ?

For that, you will have to cut short the things. First of all, you should not spend 3 hours in relaxation - that's a huge wastage of time. Secondly, 1-2 more hours can be saved from those 3 extra hours. I wouldn't recommend decreasing your sleep hours because I believe that body needs 8 hours of sleep. On coaching days, you will have to plan your day yourself - remember I mentioned in one post that I used to plan my next day every night before I slept ? It's one of the best planning tools.

Those who attend school : You people need to plan the things yourselves. Some 7-8 hours a day are usually wasted in school you you need to plan the things in a really smart way.

To summarize - These are the general revision strategies and you may like to use them throughout the 2 years. You may use the techniques mentioned to revise your class 12th syllabus as well.

PS : Do not post questions like "Is ..... possible in 2 months ?", "Which revision package is the best ?", "Can I get .... rank if I study only for 1 year ?", etc. Such questions won't be answered and would be completely ignored.

As far as choosing revision packages is concerned - go through other posts and the comments in them.

The time that will matter

Edit : A number of edits have been suggested in this post by one of my friends which have been taken into account and the post is now in it's final structure.

This post is dedicated to the time that will matter - the time after Board exams and before JEE Main - the time that is extremely crucial and the time that will greatly change your JEE Main rank if utilized properly - the 15 days time that may change your future.
You might think that you are listening to some news channel where a news reporter is trying to scare you with heavy words. But mark my words - this is the time that may change the game.
Let's come back to the point.
The aim of this post is to approach and help all sorts of students from extremely weak to weak to average to good to outstanding. Even repeaters might find it useful.
This post has been designed to be rather in a Question answer format. A student (you) will be asking questions from me and I'll be answering them.
Let's begin...

01.)Question : My board exams are over. What should I do to improve my JEE Main Rank ?
Answer : JEE Main syllabus is exactly same as CBSE syllabus. So, the books that are the best for JEE Main are also exactly same as the books prescribed for CBSE, that is - NCERT Books. For JEE Main, NCERT is the god-book. Prepare NCERT thoroughly - both class 11th and 12th. It should take around 1 week to complete NCERT if you have prepared for your board exams well.

02.)Question : I haven't prepared exclusively for JEE Main. But I am going to appear for it. What should I do ? I am an average student.
Answer : Since you haven't prepared exclusively for JEE Main, it might be expected that you aren't thorough with class 11th syllabus. So, it is advisable that you should start NCERT class 11th. You must rely solely on two things : 
->NCERT Textbooks
->Past year AIEEE (now JEE Main) papers
Solve the problems given in NCERT and all the past year papers.
It is highly likely that you won't find yourself comfortable with past year papers because you never prepared exclusively for the exam. In that case, I would suggest you to look for solutions to the past year problems in the websites of various coaching institutes (FIITJEE/Resonance for instance). Also, you can buy Arihant past year papers (with solutions)
Solve them and you might end up getting NIT or any other good college.

03.)Question : I have prepared well for JEE Main and have taken a coaching for JEE preparation in the past. What should I do to get the best out of this time ?
Answer : It's good that you utilized those past two important years. You are soon going to get rewards for that. Revise - revise and revise. Solve a number of problems. Ensure that you have solved all the past year problems carefully and understood well the solution of each and every question.
In case you haven't solved the past year problems, I would suggest you a strategy.
Pick up a paper say every alternate day and start solving it from morning 9.00 to 12.00 afternoon. Sit on a table and chair and don't get up for those 3 hours. All this is meant to give you an actual feel of the examination.
Ask you parent not to disturb you during these 3 hours.
After you are done with the paper, take a break of say 1 hour.
Then again sit back and check your score. Find out your mistakes : 
Did you commit a number of silly mistakes ?
Did you misread the question ?
Did you go short of time ?
Were you not familiar with a particular concept/didn't know a particular idea ?
etc
etc
Such questions will help you to realize what's wrong with you and your strategy. You should also try various sequences in which you are attempting the paper (PCM or PMC or ...) and find out the one which suits you the best.

04.)Question : I have taken coaching in the past 2 years but I didn't focus much so I am not confident of getting a good rank in JEE Main. What should I do ?
Answer : In that case you should read the following 3 questions :
I am weak in Maths. What should I do ? (Question 09)
I am weak in Physics. What should I do ? (Question 10)
I am weak in Chemistry. What should I do ? (Question 11)

05.)Question : I am confident of getting above 250 marks in JEE Main and I am confident that I will clear JEE Advanced too. What should I do during this period ?
Answer : First of all, make absolutely sure that you are "confident" and not "over-confident". For checking this, take help from your teachers. Ask them that do you have the potential of being an IITian ?
If the answer is "yes" then read on.
Since anyway your main aim is JEE Advanced, you are suggested not to waste time in JEE Main topics like semiconductors, statistics, etc
Note that this will decrease your JEE Main score (I lost 20 marks in physics because I didn't bother to prepare semiconductors) but since you don't care about it, it will least affect you. Keep preparing for JEE Advanced. You don't need solving JEE Main papers exclusively. You will find them damn easy. Focus on solving tough JEE Advanced problems. Just don't take JEE Main as a big exam.
Note : You might interpret the above paragraph as - "ignore JEE Main completely".
"WRONG" !! That's not my point. My point is that don't take JEE Main preparation as a burden. Since you are anyway preparing for JEE Advanced, JEE Main will be covered side by side automatically - you don't need extra efforts for it.
Also note that don't forget to analyse JEE Main paper because this is going to be your first official "big" exam.
For example, I misread plano-convex lens as bi-convex lens and made a silly mistake in JEE Main. The same mistake was made by my friend in JEE Advanced (yes! the same mistake).
I got it correct in JEE Advanced because I had noted that mistake.

"Finally I would like to say that if you have prepared well for board exams then it won't be a problem for you because your JEE Main syllabus has already been covered.
Also, a good score in JEE Main will please your teachers, parents and friends and will also boost your confidence."

06.)Question : I am a repeater. I appeared for Board Exams last year. What should I do ?
Answer : Since you don't have board exams, you have enough time (more than others). Give your 100% this time. Study NCERT books thoroughly. Ensure that you have solved "all" the past year papers. Don't leave even a single question.
Those who are appearing for the improvement exam, please refer Question 01 and other related questions.

07.)Question : I am not from CBSE Board ? What should I do ?
Answer : Not a big problem. Although, you are recommended to purchase NCERT textbooks and study them thoroughly.

08.)Question : I am done with NCERT. I have repeatedly revised it and I am confident that I will not be stuck in a direct NCERT Question. What should I do ?
Answer : In that case move on to solving past year problems. If you have done that, then get some good revision package meant exclusively for JEE Main and solve it completely.
Choose whichever package you want. All are equally good.

09.)Question : I am weak in Maths. What should I do ?
Answer : Nothing much can be done about it. Ensure that you are solving a number of questions from various topics. Maths is an art. It cannot be learnt in a couple of days. You need patience and above that - a lot of practice to master it.  Solve as many questions as you can. Revision packages will help you. If nothing works, your last resort is RD Sharma. It's the best book out there.

10.)Question : I am weak in Physics. What should I do ?
Answer : Something can be done. First try to cover NCERT fully. Read each chapter carefully and cover at least all the theoretical points given in NCERT. Solve all the problems of NCERT (including the additional problems). They are really good - some of them are up to JEE Advanced level. When you are done with it, move on to solving past year papers.

11.)Question : I am weak in Chemistry. What should I do ?
Answer : A lot can be done about it. Start mugging (cramming) each and every word of NCERT chemistry. If you are successful in cramming NCERT completely, I can guarantee you a good score in JEE Main. Also, it's extremely - extremely important to solve "all" the past year problems. Don't leave any. In JEE Main, questions of chemistry are frequently repeated. So, if you are lucky, you may be facing the same problem again (whose solution/answer you already know).

12.)Question : What do you have to say about examination temperament / examination pressure / fear ? What do you say about "D-day" ?
Answer : A lot is to be said about D-day. Ensure that you get up on time. I assume that your parents will take care of that. Get ready. For this, ensure that you have kept your Admit card, a water bottle, chewing gum (optional) and of course your pencil box.
Take blessings from your parents. Tell them that you are going to give an exam and you aren't going to fight a battle. Tell them that you are a student and not a soldier. Tell them to keep their expectations low.
When you get to the centre, you will see a completely new scenario. There will be all sorts of people. You might see some candidates studying right before the exam and you might feel nervous. What I would say is - "ignore it". A true students never studies at the last moment. He/She is always prepared to be tested. Last moment studies can't help you.
Secondly you might end up meeting one of your friend. It might happen that you both start discussing about the exam - "how tough it can be ?", "which subject you are weak at ?" etc etc. I would suggest you to refrain from all this. This will simply make you nervous. Your friend might tell you some wrong information and you might get scared right before the exam. This might hamper your performance.
You might feel nervous. It's natural. Little bit of nervousness is really important to avoid over-confidence. Almost all the aspirants will face this.
You may also feel too excited about the exam because you have prepared well. That's wrong. Don't be too much excited.
Next comes the time to go inside the centre. Bell rings, paper begins.
You first step would be to get a quick glance of the paper and decide which section is the easiest and which one is the toughest. Your plan would be to solve the easiest section first and the toughest at the last.
In a particular subject also, you are to decide the easier and the tougher questions and solve them in the sequence easiest --> toughest. "Don't" start solving tough questions.
Note that if you are accustomed to solving a particular subject first, then go with it. It's absolutely fine. But please ensure that if say you are used to solving Physics first and by chance physics paper comes extremely tough, then you should be ready to solve maths or chemistry first.
Don't get excited if the paper is too easy - you may accidentally misread a particular question if you are too excited
Suppose you are stuck in a particular question - simply leave it and come back in the end when you have solved other questions.
Carry chewing gums with you. They will help you to keep your mouth wet and avoid thirst. This way, you won't need visiting toilets again and again.
Don't mess with invigilators if you find any question to be wrong. They can't do anything about it.
Another important problem that many students face it that "should I tick the answer about which I am not sure (even when there is negative marking) ?".
My answer is yes - there is no problem in guessing but don't resort to "blind guessing". You might make intelligent guesses say by eliminating 3 options and get to the correct answer. It might happen that dimensional analysis leads you to the correct answer (it happens frequently in AIEEE).
Blind guessing is highly discouraged.

13.)Question : What should I ensure a day before JEE Main ? Can you provide a brief check list ?
Answer : A lot is to be ensured. Most importantly, you are suggested to sleep not later than 11 PM. You will have to get up early the next day.
Secondly, I would suggest you that you should "not" study the day before the exam. You should relax your mind completely. Don't think about the exam.
Watch movies, hang out with friends, play computer games.
Don't play any sport (like cricket/football) because you might end up exhausted/injured. You might break your spectacles (take special care of your spectacles).
Have a light dinner and then set up your bag.
Keep your Admit card, Pencil box with at least 3 pens, water bottle, chewing gum, medicines (if you need them), etc.
Before sleeping, ensure that all the mobiles are in silent mode. It might happen that some of your relatives may call you late night just for wishing all the best. Unknowingly, they might disturb your sleep (happened with me before JEE Advanced).
It may be possible that your sleep blows away. You are excited/nervous/scared and you are not able to sleep. It's natural and nothing much can be done about it. All you can do is to take help from your parents by telling them that you are not able to sleep. This will surely help.

14.)Question : I have opted for online exam. Can you tell me something about it ? How different is it going to be from the offline version ?
Answer : I really won't be able to help you much with this question. Try googling it or posting a question on Quora.

15.)Question : What if I am stuck with a particular question during the exam ?
Answer : Leave that question. First make sure to guarantee your selection and then try to build up your rank. By guaranteeing you selection, I mean that first solve all the easy problems and make sure that you are well above the JEE Advanced cutoff. If you are stuck in a particular question, then leave it. You don't have to be sentimental with a particular question. If it's tough, leave it without giving it a further thought (It does not mean that you leave everything). Come back to it in the end if you get time. But remember that such questions will be the rank deciding questions. These are the questions that will differentiate you from the common junta. These questions will build your score.

16.)Question : What if they suddenly change the pattern of exam ?
Answer : Please don't expect the paper to be of the same pattern as that of last year. I made this mistake and this is the reason my rank slipped a little bit in JEE Advanced. Frame your mind to accept a new pattern. Also, keep in mind that it is a change not only for you but for everyone. So, most of your competitors will be bearing the same pressure as you if the paper pattern changes.

17.)Question : What if the invigilators are terrible ?
Answer : You can't help it in any way. You will have to bear it. In my case the invigilators were 2 ladies and throughout the paper, they gossiped about their daily routines. I was fed up but I couldn't do anything. Remember, don't mess with the invigilators at any cost.

18.)Question : What if I make bubbling errors ?
Answer : Since you are going to use pen to bubble the correct option, you really can't do anything about it. If at some point you realize that you did make some bubbling mistake, stay calm. You can't correct it. Using ink eraser might rather render your OMR unreadable by the scanner. So better not try it. Just make sure to bubble the remaining part correctly and with full caution.

19.)Question : Negative thoughts keep coming to my mind. What should I do ?
Answer : It's completely natural. You might well imagine that "what if Physics paper is tough ?" , "What if I am not able to solve maths questions ?". This little bit of nervousness is important. You should be confident but not over-confident. Almost all the students will face negative thoughts some or the other day. It's not only you.
You can't really help it if paper is tough. If it is tough for you, it will be tough for everyone including the guy who will top the exam. The thing that matters is how you are performing relative to others.

20.)Question : What if the exam does not go well ?
Answer : Well let it be. It's over. There are thousands of people whose exam didn't go well. You can't score 360/360. If you are confident enough that you will be in the top 1.5 lakh then keep calm. You have probably qualified for JEE Advanced. Your aim now must be to figure out why did the paper go wrong ? What kind of mistakes did you make ? Can those mistakes be rectified in future exams ? Did you go short of time ? or did you commit a lot of silly mistakes ? Did you interpret the question wrongly ? or did you use the wrong concept. Such questions will help you find the flaws in yourself and your examination strategy. Try to rectify them and ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated in JEE Advanced. I remember making a silly mistake in physics in JEE Main and my friend did it correctly. In JEE Advanced, the reverse happened. Because I made a mistake in JEE Main, I learnt from it and hence I did not repeat it.
There may be another case - you are pretty sure that you won't qualify for JEE Advanced. In that case, your hands are tied. You cannot do anything except waiting for the results. If after normalization, you rank comes out to be good enough, then congrats. If your JEE Main rank is not good enough, then probably you should wait for counselling. You will have further options to join BITS or other colleges. Or you may choose to repeat the next year if you are willing to work hard next year.

To conclude the looooong post, I would say that all kinds of suggestions and comments are welcome.
Please don't post questions of unrelated topics on this post.

Thermal Physics... Hot topic in JEE

The topic mentioned in the heading is just too damn heavy for JEE - Yes, heavy in terms of it's weightage in JEE.
To get a feel of how important it is, pick up the past year JEE papers. Each JEE paper contains at least 5-10 problems from thermal physics. So better prepare it well.

Basics : This include the topics of thermal expansion, thermal stress etc. They are simple topics and must be done if you have solved a few standard problems. The problems of expansion involving liquids inside a container are important and easy. You may be asked to measure the new length measured by the scale when scale and the object(whose length is to be measured), both expand. Such problems are easy and interesting and must be done in a single shot.

Heat Transfer : Slightly important topic. I remember there was a question regarding calculation of equivalent thermal conductivity in JEE 2013. Although JEE mentions heat conduction in one dimension, you still may try heat conduction through a cylinder (2 dimensions) and heat conduction through a sphere (3 dimensions) for Olympiads. Laws of radiation and Newton's laws of cooling are important. You should learn the definitions of emissivity/emmisive power/absorptivity/etc by heart. I remember I used to mix these definitions. Pick up HC Verma and learn the definitions in that book. Kirchoff's law, Wein's displacement law, Stefan's law etc are important and easy to grasp topics.

Thermodynamics : Here comes the big gun. This topic is extremely important because having a grip on this will help you not only in physics but also in chemistry. Learn the specific heat capacities of various gases at constant pressure and constant volume. They won't be given in exam. Learn the definitions of various processes, most important one being isotropic process. Solve a large number of problems from thermodynamics of ideal gas. A word of caution here. Make sure that you don't mix up the physics and chemistry conventions of First law of thermodynamics. They take work done as negative in chemistry but not in physics.

Books : HC Verma, Arihant. These two books are more than enough.

Revision : Revision packages like FIITJEE GMP, resonance Rank booster or the one provided by your coaching.

Final word :  Practice a number of problems from the First law of thermodynamics. It's really really important from the point of JEE. Also, it is important from the point of Indian National Physics Olympiad. I remember having a 13 mark question in INPhO 2013 from a combination of SHM and Adiabatic process. So better learn the formulas of Work done, Heat and change in internal energy in all the processes.
Cheers

Calculus - Awesome Mathematics

This is going to be a long one. Better grab something to eat.

Calculus has remained my favourite topic since JEE. It's the best, the most logical and the most beautiful topic for me. It has it's own beauty. It's a mixture of everything - co-ordinate geometry, algebra, vectors and what not. It's because of my interest in calculus that I performed good in our calculus course. It's extremely important from the point of engineering.
Coming back to JEE, 
Here is a chapter wise discussion of JEE calculus.

Functions : forms the framework of calculus. Understand this concept well otherwise studying calculus will be a tough time for you. Common questions are :

• finding domain/range of a given function : students commit silly mistake here
• given a domain and range, finding the number of one-one, onto, etc functions
• plotting graph and finding number of intersection points of 2 or more functions

study this chapter well, especially graph plotting. It's going to help you a lot.
Practice a number of problems of finding domain/range. There are tricks like :

• no negative number inside a square root.
• no division by zero
• no negative number zero inside log
• base of log is not equal to 1 etc etc.

They expect you to know these basics. A good practice is to cross check your answer from the options available.

Limits : Most important part. Entire calculus is based on finding limit of a function. L'Hopital's rule is extremely important. Apply it as much as you can. You might also give a try to series expansion but I avoided it because most questions of series expansion can be solved if you are good at L'Hopital's rule. So, I never needed it. However, it is advisable to remember the exponential and logarithmic series.
Questions from this chapter are usually straight forward and simple. You just have to figure out the zero by zero form or the infinity by infinity form and apply L'Hopital's rule.
The variety of questions is large.

Continuity : another important topic. This chapter can be solved if you are accurate and quick at drawing graphs of functions. Continuous functions have many interesting and important properties like "intermediate value property", invertibility etc. Understand them and apply them.

Differentiation : One of the easiest chapter. Doesn't need much effort. Learn the formulas of differentiation - quotient rule, product rule, chain rule, implicit differentiation, differentiation of exponential and logarithmic functions, higher order derivatives. Practice enough questions.

Application of derivatives : Most-most-most important chapter because maximum number of questions are asked from this topic. Rolle's theorem, Lagrange's mean value theorem, concept of maxima-minima, increasing and decreasing functions, inflexion points, etc are really really important. Practice as many questions as you can from these topics. Be prepared to see maximum questions in JEE from this topic. If you are weak at it, then better do something otherwise you will face trouble. This chapter basically is the application of all that you studied in the previous chapters and JEE is all about applying concepts.

Integration : Relatively easy chapter. You won't find many questions in JEE from indefinite integrals. There are a number of formulas to be remembered from this chapter. The formulas are extremely important because you will sometimes need them in definite integration.

Definite integrals : most important topic of integral calculus. There will be a good number of questions from this chapter. Most questions will be based on the properties of definite integrals rather than just applying fundamental theorem of calculus to a definite integral.
Practice enough questions from this topic.

Differential equations : A relatively simple and interesting chapter. Need a good amount of practice and some memorizing skills. Learn the known methods of solving the standard differential equations and you will enjoy this topic.

Books : Arihant differential calculus, Arihant integral calculus (Both by Amit M. Agarwal) are the best books for this topic. They will cover almost everything (except one topic - inflexion points which you may cover from somewhere else). Solve all the subjective and objective problems of the book. You may choose to ignore the extremely long ones because they are meant for olympiads etc.

Revision : Revise from the standard revision packages in the market. FIITJEE GMP or Resonance rank booster or the one provided by your coaching will be sufficient.

Final word : Calculus needs a lot of cramming. There are a number of standard methods and techniques that you are expected to remember. You won't derive the formulas in exam. Just understand them at home and then learn them by heart.
Practice a number of problems especially from application of derivatives and definite integrals. These are the favourite topics and definitely there will be questions from them. You can't afford to lose marks in calculus because it is one of the easiest topic.
Enjoy calculus.

Board exams are coming

Board exams are near. Pressure must have increased. You must be thinking how to handle so much pressure ? Boards -> JEE Main -> JEE advanced !!
Life must be going too difficult. I know how it feels. I have been through the same last year.
Let me help you to make it a bit easy.
Most probably, your first exam will be English (you must have got your date sheet by now). Prepare whole heartedly for it. Dedicate 3-4 full days for it. Keep your JEE preparation aside and start preparing English. There are many guide books available in the market and they are really really helpful especially if you are a dummy school student (Like me :P ). It's very important to get at least above 80 in English otherwise your percentage will go down significantly (Remember you have to be in the top 20 percentile of your board). Read the text book prescribed for your board thoroughly and follow a guide book. Ask for help from your friends who are not preparing for JEE. Request them to teach you English lessons.
Attempt the paper with planning and everything should be fine.
Around 50% load should be gone off from your head after English paper is over.
Next usually you will have Mathematics then Physics then Chemistry.
Here is where the trick comes.
You have a great chance to prepare NCERT thoroughly. Study NCERT in great detail. Solve the examples given in maths book. They might seem trivial but remember that if you don't have a practice of "writing" a solution, then you will be facing problem in your Board exams. So better sit with a pen and paper and write down the solutions to even the easy questions. There are certain topics that are not present in JEE advanced syllabus but they are in Board syllabus. Make sure you cover them. That will not only help you in Board exams, but also in JEE Main.
Do the same with Physics and Chemistry (especially). Prepare NCERT thoroughly and you will be done with class 12th syllabus of JEE Main and JEE advanced too (partly). In this way, you aren't wasting your precious JEE time. Instead, you are utilizing it smartly.
Make sure to cover all the proofs and derivations in Physics. They are important.
Make sure you have seen papers of last 3 years and solved them properly.
Make sure you have memorized all the tables and diagrams mentioned in NCERT for both Physics and Chemistry.
Lastly comes the optional subject (Computer/Physical education/Hindi/any other).
For Physical education, you don't really need to burn the midnight oil. Just learn the headings and write the final answer in your own words. You will surely get 90+ but make sure to dedicate around 2 days to the optional subject.
Getting a 90% in Boards is not only easy, but also it is required especially if you are in ICSE or CBSE Board.
For CBSE, the GodBook is NCERT. Don't search for unnecessary guides and all. Guides are required for English and optional subject. For Physics, Chemistry and Maths, you don't really need a guide. You JEE preparation experience is sufficient.
Whatever I have written in this post applies by and large to all the boards. Syllabus may vary slightly. Make sure to follow the syllabus strictly. You should not end up wasting time on something that is not really required.
All the best.
Work hard and make everyone proud of you.
Comments and suggestions are welcome.
A post on JEE Main will be coming soon

Co-ordinate your geometry - co-ordinate geometry

Co-ordinate geometry has a huge weightage in JEE and it is considered to be the easiest topic in JEE maths.
First of all, a chapter wise analysis, then relevant books and then concluding remarks are mentioned in this post.

1.) Basics : Cartesian coordinates, distance between two points, section formulae, shift of origin etc. They form the backbone of Co-ordinate geometry. Make sure to learn all formulas by heart. Locus problems form another set of problems from the point of JEE. Master them

2.) Straight lines : Equation of a straight line in various forms, angle between two lines, distance of a point from a line. Lines through the point of intersection of two given lines, equation of the bisector of the angle between two lines, concurrency of lines, centroid, orthocentre, incentre and circumcentre of a triangle. These are the topics as mentioned in JEE syllabus. Understand the various forms of a line and learn to apply the best form in a particular scenario. Family of straight lines is most important from the point of view of JEE problems. Also make sure to learn how and when to apply the parametric form of a straight line.

3.) Circles : Equation of a circle in various forms, equations of tangent, normal and chord.
Parametric equations of a circle, intersection of a circle with a straight line or a circle, equation of a circle through the points of intersection of two circles and those of a circle and a straight line.
It's the simplest chapter. Understand the standard equations. This chapter contains a number of formulas such as - length of tangent from a point, equation of chord of contact, equation of chord with a given midpoint, equation of common tangent, finding radical axis, radical centre, etc. The formulas derived here are general and apply to ellipse, parabola and hyperbola as well. So better learn them by heart. The parametric form of a circle is very important.

4.) Parabola : Most of the equations that are derived in Circles chapter will work here. The parametric form is really important in all chapters of conics. An interesting topic is the reflection property of parabola which you might like to learn for solving paragraph type questions in JEE. Note that paragraphs are common from the chapters of coordinate geometry so better be prepared to se something new on JEE day. You won't be given the same old beaten up problems.

5.) Ellipse : Much of same as Circles. Again the parametric form is important. Auxiliary circle helps a lot in solving the questions of this chapter. Locus problems are frequently asked from this chapter. Parametric form will help you in solving locus problems.

6.) Hyperbola : Much of same as Circles and ellipse. Simple but confusing. Conjugate hyperbola and asymptotes and their properties are important. Some people face problems in this chapter. Reason is that this chapter marks the end of coordinate geometry. So, usually people get bored till this time and tend to neglect it. But keep in mind that paper setters know all this. And they are ready to trap you. A good student cannot afford to miss any chapter.

Books : TMH is the best book if you are aiming for a good rank. If you are looking to try something challenging and want to convince yourself that you know coordinate geometry, then go for Arihant Coordinate Geometry by SK Goyal. It's a good book. It contains enough subjective and objective problems. Make sure you do all

Concluding Remarks : Make sure that you know the parametric form of each curve, equation of tangent of slope "m", equation of normal of slope "m", equation of tangent and normal at any point (x,y) or in terms of parameter. These are the most important things and most problems will be done if you do them.

Revision : Any review package might help. Make sure you revise the formulas from some reliable source. Best way is to write down all of them in a sheet of paper and revise regularly. You will learn them only when you apply them. So solve as many problems as you can. You will enjoy it. For revision you may try TMH (unsolved problems).

Finally : I request you all not to ask me "Is this book enough for JEE ?", "will I get under 1000 rank if I do this ?".
I really don't know the answer to such questions. Nothing is enough for JEE. You can solve all the material available but still, you might not get the expected marks because of poor examination temperament (about which I will write soon in my next post).

All the best.
Enjoy coordinate geometry

Last few months

The last few months are very important.
Waste this time and time will waste you.
Time is precious during the last few months. Especially the time between JEE Main and JEE Advanced. This time is the rank deciding factor.
Let me make it a bit more explanatory. The people who haven't prepared well during the past two years are going to make full use of this time. Such students were not able to prepare well because of say school exams, board exams etc. But now(after board exams are over), they are completely free of any load and will charge themselves to the fullest.
They might easily go ahead if you don't work hard. So better utilize this time.
To be precise, do the following :

• Do endless revision of inorganic chemistry. If you don't revise now, then it will be washed away.
• Solve innumerable problems of organic and physical chemistry.
• Solve as many problems as you can from various topics.
• Make a clear list of topics/chapters in which you are weak.
• Practice infinite problems of the chapters in the above list.
• Make sure you have completed NCERT books thoroughly.
• Make sure that you are solving a good amount of problems in a given time. Always have a timer with you to time yourself.
• Take special care of your health. You don't want to waste even a fraction of this time.
• Increase your study hours by around 10%.
• Think about your target. Keep the target in mind and stay motivated.
• Do well in the test series. Make sure to analyse your mistakes in every paper.
• Note down the silly mistakes that you committed in the exams and make it a point that you don't repeat the same mistake again.
• Revise your coaching notes regularly.
• Cut down your extra curricular activities especially those activities in which your body gets exhausted (sports etc)

Word hard, work smart. The IITs are calling you.

Ideas for efficient revision sessions

I received tonnes of requests on "How to revise ?"
Here are a few methods that are based on my own experience. Note that my strategy might completely fail for you. So it's best to discover one's own techniques when it comes to revision, which is a crucial stage in JEE preparation.
First of all, I will write about Chemistry because this is something that needs infinite revision.

Inorganic chemistry : As I have been emphasizing from the beginning, inorganic chemistry requires a lot of revision. I had my own strategy. I used to :
1.)read from books (NCERT/JD Lee/FIITJEE packages etc) 
2.)fix in my mind as much as I could in one shot
3.)maintain a diary wherein I used to mention all those facts which I didn't remember/used to forget easily
4.)revised that diary daily during the last couple of months
5.)revised the stuff of point number 2 (above) on weekends

This way, I ensured that I did not forget the things that have been covered so far.
Note : although I have mentioned JD Lee here. You can simply ignore it
Summary : re-read NCERT

Organic chemistry : towards the end of my preparation, I made a full reading of Morrison and Boyd to ensure that nothing is left from HC Verma of chemistry (Morrison Boyd is regarded as HC Verma of chemistry). I solved numerous problems to ensure that I am ready to apply the reactions on the final day.
Another important thing was that I revised all the "Key mechanisms" of LG Wade. They are the most important mechanisms and a table is given in the book that lists all the page numbers of the Key mechanisms. That table is meant for quick revision.
Summary : solve problems

Physical Chemistry : I solved the problems of RC Mukherjee (note that there are objective problems at the end of book). I regularly revised the chapter - Colloidal state
Summary : solve problems

Maths : for maths, I revised algebra from TMH. Co-ordinate geometry, Trigonometry from FIITJEE packages, Calculus from Arihant Differential and integral calculus (best pair of books for calculus) and Vectors/3-D geometry from ML Agarwal (ISC board Maths book)
Summary : solve problems

Physics : In physics, I was proficient in numericals but the thing that bowled me were the theory based questions that are frequently asked in more than one correct type problems. So I revised HC Verma fully (meaning the theory portion) and solved the objective I and II and discussed it with my teachers.
Summary : solve problems

Note that most of the summaries contain the tag - "solve problems".
Reasons : 
1.)you are applying the formulas so you are forced to recall them (this is what you'll be doing on D-day)
2.)you are practicing more and more questions
3.)your speed is increasing
4.)your accuracy is increasing
5.)your examination temperament is improving

Last piece of advice :
1.)Do not waste time after JEE main. Utilize this fully for you revision. This time is going to decide your rank. The one who wastes this time is going to be ruined on the JEE day
2.)If you JEE main doesn't go fine, don't be depressed
3.)Revise all the subjects daily - one subject per day is dangerous
4.)Keep pen and paper with you (for solving problems and not as a show piece)
5.)Practice as many problems as possible
6.)last and final one - don't be over confident. There are super stud people in every fields that are way ahead of you

All the best.
Do post your comments/queries

Qualitative analysis - requires quality study

Qualitative analysis is viewed as one of the most difficult chapters of inorganic chemistry because it requires sheer cramming with little or rather no logic. This is the perception of most JEE aspirants. But my view is a bit different.
If you study from a good source(which has been mentioned below) then I don't think that this chapter is that difficult as a JEE aspirant feels.
Here are a few tips :
1.) Prepare this chapter by "writing" the reactions on a notebook. You might feel that if you just read it once, then you are done but the case is different. An average JEE aspirant doesn't have that high IQ level. And it has been scientifically proved that we remember things better if we write them once. So carry pen and paper with you when you study this chapter.
2.) A good and reliable study material with a simple language is the best. For example - I used FIITJEE packages parallel to a book called Vogel's qualitative analysis. It's a good book but it is not meant for JEE. You have to study only about 15% of that book for JEE. You might like to try something else. But the above 2 must be sufficient. Note that instead of FIITJEE packages, you might have a different package. But don't worry, all are more or less the same.
3.) Solve a number of problems especially the past year problems. Don't miss a single problem from at least past 25 years. They repeat the questions from this chapter.
4.) In the end, the most important thing is revision. As I have already mentioned in my inorganic chemistry post, all the chapters of inorganic chemistry (qualitative analysis included) require intense revision. You are highly likely to forget everything you did if you do not revise say once a week.

Algebra , the most difficult one

For me , algebra was like a nightmare , even today. Thankfully there is no algebra course here in B.Tech. Here is a chapterwise analysis of algebra as most people demanded. I am sorry for the delay.

Complex numbers : as the name suggests , it's a really complex chapter. Contains a large number of concepts. This chapter integrated with coordinate geometry serves as the source of a large number of questions. Be careful with this. Locus problems are asked from this chapter wherein the definitions are given in complex number notation and you are expected to decipher it. The triangle inequality is another important aspect.

Quadratic Equations : A rather simple chapter but very much interesting. Make sure you know all the concepts. This would be easy if you practice past years problems well.

Progressions and series : The so called Vn method is most important. Recursion problems are the favourite ones. Make sure you know the definitions well and are well equipped to apply them whenever needed.

Logarithms : Simplest one. But the base change formula is important. Direct questions are asked rarely but they can test you in say a different way but integrating this chapter with other chapters of algebra.

Permutations and Combinations : The most difficult chapter for me. I am still confused so I can't really say anything but make sure that you solve a large number of problems.

Binomial Theorem : Easy one. Practice a handful of problems and you are done.

Matrices : Simplest chapter of algebra. But the paper setters know how to make you sweat in matrices problems. Check the paragraph that was asked in JEE 2010. It is the toughest problem from this chapter.

Probability : Not really difficult but not easy too. Practice board level problems in the beginning and then move on to tougher ones.

Algebra is an important and a diverse topic with a large weightage so make sure you practice it well.

All about Mechanics

Mechanics is one of the most important part of Physics in JEE.
It has huge weightage and not having a command on this part will definitely pull down your rank.
It's important because it has large applications in thermodynamics, electromagnetism as well as in modern physics so being expert in this part helps you to understand the subject better.
Here is a chapterwise analysis of mechanics:
Kinematics: First chapter of mechanics. It's mainly mathematics with a little bit of physics. Knowing calculus is important to understand this chapter. Definitions in this chapter must be absolutely clear and yes focus mainly on projectile motion(especially projectile motion along an inclined plane).
Laws of motion: "backbone of classical physics". Newton's second law is everything here. Practice it well and apply it with caution. Constraint relations form an important part and a number of questions are framed from this topic. Most students face problem in friction part. And yes paper setters know it!
Work, power, energy: work energy theorem and law of conservation of mechanical energy are two important laws that need to be mastered. Don't leave small things out here. In competitions they even ask the units and conversions(for example 1HP = ? Watts).
Center of mass and momentum: another important chapter. The law of conservation of linear momentum is very important and a number of questions are asked from it. Mixed questions from these 4 chapters are common in JEE.
Gravitation: not so important from the point of JEE but very important of you are and olympiad aspirant. If you are done with electrostatics then this chapter is a cakewalk.
Rigid body dynamics/rotational mechanics: most important chapter for JEE mechanics. It was the favourite chapter of paper setters in JEE 2012. Difficult for most students and sometimes confusing too. You are expected to know the formulae, moment of inertia for simple objects, the theorems on inertia, and most importantly - law of conservation of angular momentum. This law combined with law of conservation of linear momentum is used to solve the problem of collisions which is another favourite for competitive exams. Another aspect is impulse momentum theorem and the angular equivalent of the theorem. Brilliant questions have been asked in JEE from this chapter. Even for olympiads, this one is important. Practice this chapter patiently and learn to apply the equations and theorems correctly. Give this chapter extra time.
Simple Harmonic Motion: Another simple yet interesting chapter. Spring mass system is it all about! Make sure you take the help of Work energy theorem to solve the problems of this chapter. All the above chapters are used in solving problems of this chapter.
Fluid mechanics: Pascal's law , Archimedes Principle , Bernoulli's Equation and Equation of continuity are the 4 most important aspects of this chapter. You must be familiar with pressure calculations in different situations. This chapter might prove to be difficult for some (including me).
Elasticity: Easiest chapter of mechanics. Learn the definitions by heart and apply them.
The recommended books have already been mentioned in another post. Important theorems / laws have been underlined and are expected to be known perfectly.