NEET Physics Exam Guide

NEET and Physics

NEET, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, holds a huge deal of importance for prospective medical and dentistry students in India. In this test, Physics plays a major role, stretching students' grasp of fundamental principles and problem solving abilities. Physics is probably the hardest part of the NEET exam.

Physics is a big deal in NEET, so to ace it, you've got to really understand those principles, solve problems like an expert, and have a crystal-clear grip on the concepts. If you're aiming for a medical career and gearing up for this tough exam, mastering the different sections of Physics is the key to scoring well and setting the stage for a bright future in medicine.

What are the topics of physics found in NEET?

NEET Physics is divided into nineteen topics which come from the CBSE Physics syllabus for class 11 and 12. Here is an overview of each section's contents:

The NEET Physics syllabus will include important topics such as Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Electrostatics, Wave Motion, Electromagnetic Theory, Optics, Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.

What is the weightage of the Physics topics?

All the Section A questions have to be answered, but you only need to do 10 of the Section B questions. The weightage between the sections is as follows:

What does the NEET Physics exam consist of?

NEET Physics typically comprises 45 questions, collectively carrying 180 marks out of the total 720. The questions are divided into various sections covering topics like Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Optics, Electricity & Magnetism, Modern Physics, and more.

What do the NEET Physics questions look like?

Four Option Questions in NEET Physics

NEET Physics exams have four options. A physics question on current electricity is shown here. How did you do? (The solution can be found below*)

Apart from questions with only one answer required, there are also matching information questions. These are much harder as you have to know four pieces of information in order to get the question correct.

Matching List Questions in NEET Physics

Matching list responses are common in the NEET Physics exam. In this example you have to know four wave types and their wavelengths. If you attempt the question and get it wrong you will lose a mark.

*Answer to the example question:
Given I = 10 m, r = 10-2√π , R = 10 Ω, E = 10 v/m:

Current density,  J =σE  = EⲢ

J = EIRA = 10  1010    10-4 = 10-5 A/m²
Therefore the answer is (1)

How do you prepare for NEET Physics?

Studying from the NCERT textbooks from Class XI and XII is a starting point, but it won’t give you the depth and breadth of knowledge you need. That is because not all of the questions come from the NCERT books. The questions fall into three types:

Questions directly from the NCERT textbook

There are around 15-20 questions that come from the NCERT books

Past paper questions

These will be around 15-20 of the questions from previous years

Questions modified from previous ones

About 2-5 questions will be new or modified questions. They are normally at a hard level that only the top students are able to answer correctly.

You can use reference books to improve your depth of knowledge, but these can be a bit expensive unless you can get hold of a second hand one or resell it afterwards! The best books for NEET physics  are:

1. NCERT Physics Class 11 Textbook

2. NCERT Physics Class 12 Textbook

3. Halliday, Resnick & Walker - Fundamentals of Physics

4. Irodov - Problems in General Physics

5. Verma - Concepts in Physics

Being successful in exams means lots of practice! Working through physics past paper questions is one of the best ways to build your confidence with the physics part of NEET. While past papers give you exposure to the standard of NEET physics questions it doesn’t necessarily help you if you don’t understand the solutions, so you need a range of tools to help you.

A lot of students opt for private tutoring, but this is not always affordable, so online resources such as Save My Exams can help you with your preparation at a lower cost.